I went to one of my favorite networking groups earlier this month which featured a panel of women specializing in coaching and mentoring. It was a good one! We talked about 2020 goals and our plans to get there. Before the session was out, there was a Q&A session and this question was raised:
“How do I get rid of my fear of failure?”
Fear is often a hot topic for us Passionpreneurs. We are pretty good at identifying our fears and even better at attempting to will them all away in order to find success. But is it really necessary to abolish fear from our lives? Does that actually make us better entrepreneurs? This month I would like to reflect on some of the most insightful wisdom I have heard about FEAR.
Brook Castillo – Fear is an emotion. As humans, we are designed to experience the full range of emotions throughout our lifetime, including fear! As it was originally designed, the feeling of fear was there to keep us alive (and safe from saber-tooth tigers) but now-a-days it can help us discover more about what holds us back (like deep-seeded limiting beliefs) or prompt us to listen to our gut on a big decision (evaluate risk). If you never feel fear, you may be robbed of truly feeling confident and safe because you lose perspective on what those polarizing emotions truly feel like. So, you may be fearful sometimes, and that’s ok, it's part of the human experience.
iPEC Coaching Philosophy – Emotions are just different forms of energy within our bodies. Picture a ball of energy, rattling around in our chests. Once the energy is named (I feel fearful about this) you have the opportunity to get really curious! Why do I feel fearful? Where did that come from and is it true? And if this is truly energy and we know that energy can neither be created nor destroyed but it CAN be transferred, can I shift that ball of energy into a more constructive form like excitement or anticipation? How would that affect my results?
Gratitude6 – Fear is not an emotion to banished but to be acknowledged and utilized to your advantage. What if you could shift the focus of your fear to more productive spaces like “the fear of not bringing your gift to the world” or “fear of someone not hearing your message that really needs it”? How would that empower you to take bolder steps forward?
Like all of our emotions, fear has its place in our human experience. The real challenge is being conscious of fear as it arrives and ensuring that you are in control of the thoughts you have about that fear. Acknowledge, get curious, use that energy to your advantage and start rebuilding your relationship with fear in 2020.
