Put Fear in the Rear-View Mirror!
It’s time to put FEAR in the rear-view mirror!
This is the month where ghosts and goblins reign supreme. But that doesn’t have to be the case for us. What we fear limits us in every way. We “hide” behind the what-if’s which prevent us to do the things that could really make an impactful difference in our lives. Here are a few tips to identify and debunk your fears so you can live more freely and productively. To more fully address your fears, register today for my October workshop, Put Fear in the Rear-View Mirror where we’ll take all these tips to a deeper level.
Step #1: Identify your fears. You can’t unmask them until you truly know what they are, right? Write down some things you fear in your professional life and personal life. Pick one of the fears you listed, and answer the following questions:
Describe a situation/scenario where this fear arises.
What is it you’re actually afraid of?
Where did this fear first appear?
How has it protected you?
How it is protecting you now?
How is it holding you back?
Simply put – fear, like any emotion, is information. If we choose to look at it, it offers knowledge and understanding. When looking at how it’s holding you back, what does that do for your motivation to remove it? Read on to learn how!
Step #2, debunk them. And to do this, look no further than an episode of Scooby Doo. Scooby and Shaggy were filled with fright at the perception of a g-g-g-g-ghost, but inevitably, at the end, when they caught the ghost in one of Fred’s traps and removed the mask, it was only “Mr. Miller!” the grocery store owner. So it’s time, now, to remove the masks of your fears by taking that same fear above, and asking yourself these questions:
Why do you believe it’s bad/something to fear?
What evidence do you have to support this?
What might be an exaggeration of your belief?/ What makes it false?
What are some other ways to look at that?
What might you say to a friend who has this belief? Or what might they say to you?
Bottom line: How REAL is your fear? While there still may be some elements of reality within this fear for you, even if you were able to identify a hint of false information, it’s a starting point!
