I just love this quote from Mark Twain...because it's so true. We spend so much time worrying and being afraid of things that never happen. It's such a waste of time, energy and stress. There is so much we want to do in life yet we talk ourselves right out of it because it can seem scary. For the most part, if it isn't scary it isn't usually worth it.
I have been working on my own business for over two years now. It's been very scary. I've had all kinds of thoughts about why I should throw in the towel. I've told myself a bunch of times that I can't do this and I'm wasting so much money continuing to try. Not only that but I'm losing out on money by not going to get a regular job and start contributing to this household. I know that if my 'why' wasn't so freaking strong I would be sitting behind a desk somewhere doing a 9-5 job. Luckily I have a sense of my higher purpose and that is what keeps me going.
You all know my purpose here by now. I want to help everyone turn their negative thoughts into positive. I want to help pessimists become hopefulists. And I want to offer a daily dose of inspiration and positivity to all who want it. I started out doing a blog which led to a podcast. This business has evolved so many times. I've done speaking events which I love but the pandemic but a kink in doing more of those. (And to be completely honest, as much as I love speaking to crowds of people it still scares the bejeesus out of me!)
So let's dissect this fear a little bit and see how it is affecting my goal of doing more speaking events. I tell myself that it's too hard right now because the effects of the pandemic are ramping up again. Ummm, my first speaking event was last summer smack dab in the middle of the a shutdown. That excuse doesn't fly. Okay, my next obstacle is I don't know where to start looking for events. So I don't. I'm never going to find events if I don't look! I have to take uncomfortable action and do things that scare me in order to get to the thing that scares me the most...speaking in public.
So, why do I even want to pursue this if I find it so frightening? I guess it's the same reason people jump out of airplanes and zip line over mountains. It's scary as all get out but it's exciting and exhilarating as well. Plus, I truly want to help people discover they have the power to live the exact life they dream of. I know this is my purpose right now and I want to help as many people as I can realize that.
There are all types of fears that stop us from doing what we really want to do all the time. And they usually show up in the form of excuses. So we have to get better at recognizing what is an excuse and what is fear.
Let's take a typical goal of better health. We all know what we need to do in order to get healthier. We have to eat better and move more often. But we hesitate to do those things. Why? Because we fear it's going to cause us pain. We like being able to eat whatever we want. We have habits that we would need to change and we know that can be hard. We would rather sit on the couch at the end of a day watching t-v, reading or playing on our phone that moving our body in a way that we know is good for it.
Change is hard. We know that. But one of the mistakes we make is we focus on what we are losing instead of what we are gaining. We may not be able to eat brownies every night after dinner anymore but we will be able to breathe better in order to keep up with the kids or grandkids. We will be able to buy new clothes that look flattering on us. We will feel strong and healthy and know we can do whatever physical challenges that come along.
When afraid of making change focus on the good that will come of it. Not what you are losing. I say this all the time...it's really very simple. Not easy, but simple. We all know already what we have to do. It's just a matter of making ourselves do it. So shift your focus and quell some of your fears by looking at the plus instead of the minus.
Fears will creep up throughout your lifetime and it's really good at disguising itself as other things. Mostly excuses. So learn to recognize when your fear is coming up and learn to combat it. Once you understand why you are afraid it's much easier to let it go. And for goodness sake stop worrying about things that haven't happened!
If you would like to take advantage of a deep dive phone call with me to examine some of the fear you think may be stopping you then let me know.
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Now go on out there and be BADASS this week. I'm always here, cheering you on!
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