“What would you say if I told you I could change this for you right now?”
“What do you mean,” he asked, “On the lift, we only have a few minutes.”
“That’s right,” I said.
“I would say you are crazy,” he nervously chuckled.
Crazy Is How Easily We Can Overcome Fears
I agreed and then I asked him, “How good would it be if we got to the top and this debilitating fear of public speaking you had was gone?”
“What would you say to that?”
“I would say you perform miracles, because this fear has held me back my entire career,” he said.
So I asked him, “What is possible for you when this fear is gone?”
“Well, anything is possible for me when I’m leading more confidently,” he uttered.
“And, how do you imagine yourself being different?” I queried.
He beamed and said, “I would be able to lead my teams in ways I haven’t before, and my career would be on a new trajectory.”
“Great,” I said, “And how does this feel?”
“It feels wonderful,” he said, “And I feel so confident.”
“And how does this make you feel,” I asked.
And while he described how good it feels feeling confident, I said:
“Now, quickly, with this feeling imagine yourself standing in front of your team where you used to have that problem, and notice how it now feels different.”
He looked at me and said, “It feels wonderful and I am confident.”
Shocked, he asked me, “How did you do that?”
“I didn’t do it, you did it…
…and now you know how, practice this every day until you feel yourself speaking confidently,” I shouted as I skied away.
P.S. You can read here more mindset articles.
P.P.S. And you can read here more specific articles on destroying fear.