How do you define “FEAR”? At ActionCOACH, fear has a bit of a different definition: False-Expectations-Appearing-Real. How often do your own fears hold you back and then it turns out all the fear you had built up in your mind was not warranted. Thus, a False Expectation: it was not as scary as you thought. We build fears up in our minds and they almost never become materialized.

Remember when you were a child, were you afraid of the monster under your bed? There never really was a monster, but it did Appear to be very Real to you. This is often how we react to change, we fear it because it is an unknown. We let our minds run wild with all the worst-case scenarios we can think of. When the worst case almost never happens yet we still fear it. We do not like to have to do something that takes us out of our comfort zone or may cause us to feel rejected. Did you ever have to make sales calls in person or on the phone? How did you feel? Were you uncomfortable, nervous, tense, or in Fear? Did you procrastinate? How about having to fire someone? How much do you look forward to that?

The thing is, you must face your fears or they will control your behavior, and usually in a negative way such as procrastination. Face them and you will eventually overcome them. Not to say you will never get nervous when you must make a sales call or fire someone, you will just be more skilled at it, and it will not cause as much anxiety. Nerves can be a good thing and even fear to a certain point. It can help you to be more alert and focused if it does not paralyze you.

How much have you missed out on in your life? How many opportunities have you missed out on, because of fear? How different would your life be if you had faced your fear and overcame it? If you had not let your fear control your behavior? Think about what is causing your fears right now. What will you choose to do? Remember how you respond to your fears is what matters, so respond well and don’t let your fears control you!

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