Face that Fear!

One of my biggest fears is bike rides...yes, bike rides!

My heart rate increases when I am about to mount, I hate the feeling of being clipped in, I get really nervous when I approach a downhill.

I realize that it is quite normal to experience fear. We only need to ensure that fear doesn’t become a debilitating factor. Instead, if we recognize our fear, we can simply face it head on.

I had the pleasure of doing this last weekend. As part of a triathlon (Swim, Bike and Run), I was required to complete a 15 mile hilly, I mean hard core HILLS, bike course. Of course when I signed up for the event (yes, I pay to torture myself), I thought it would be like any triathlon…a couple of rolling hills and maybe one major hill. When I started to ask around, they all indicated that the bike course was extra challenging. “Great!”, I thought to myself. The Bike leg of the triathlon is my weakest compared to the swim and/or run. I didn’t get to take my bike out much, let alone practice hills! I started to freak out. The freak out phase took many different forms in the week leading up to the race. But all the while, I knew that I was being completely irrational. I knew that I had to talk myself out of this fear. Although my husband encouraged me tirelessly, I knew it had to come from within me. I had to believe in myself!

Experience has shown me that apprehensiveness to go for an opportunity is caused by a few factors:

1. Low self-confidence
2. Imposter syndrome - Being unable to recognize and acknowledge your own strengths and achievements
3. Fear of failure

Let’s look into each of these elements.

Low Self-Confidence

This is a HUGE problem. There could be a number of reasons that result in a person having low self confidence. That doesn’t have to be their permanent state though. It sometimes takes a few small successes for people to start believing in themselves and their ability. It is certainly not a change that comes overnight, but repeated successes does reinforce the belief in oneself.

In my case, I had to remind myself of my experience with other triathlons. I have successfully navigated through them. This was not going to be that much different other than some added complexity on the bike. Worst, worst case, I would walk the 15 mile bike ride. ;)

Imposter Syndrome

This is a topic that is very close to my heart. I have personally struggled with this for a long time. Just because I do something, I think it’s “No big deal”. It requires a little objective reflection to realize the extent of our achievements. I am finally to a point where when that self doubt starts to rear its ugly head, I stop it dead in its tracks. 

On race day, when I saw everyone getting set up, I felt a little out of place. “These people are REAL athletes”, I thought to myself quickly discrediting my own ability. Then, I caught myself. Every race for me is only about my ability so it didn’t matter whether the others were elites or not. I had to focus on that fact and channel my energy into doing my best.

Fear of Failure

Failure is not synonymous with “The End”. It never has been. Unless we start to look at failure with a different attitude, we will leave a lot of opportunities unexplored. Failure gives us a view into where our current strengths lie and what we can work on improving. This can apply to any stage or aspect of life. As long as we try something new, we need to be willing to embrace failure as a guide rather than the enemy.

For my race, I had to prepare myself for either a DNF (Did Not Finish) or finishing well after everyone else. I had to be fine with either option considering the bare minimum training that I was able to put in. This took off a lot of the pressure. In the words of my trainer, “Go slowly but just keep moving”. That was the strategy I adopted when I was both nervous and tired. It got me to the finish line. :)

Conclusion

We are all capable beings. Unless we are willing to explore, challenge ourselves, put ourselves out there, we will plateau in terms of experience, growth and overall fulfillment.

When I think back to the array of emotions that consumed me, I realize that I could have intercepted those thoughts a little sooner. I was in dire need of some “STOP-WAIT-GO” thinking i.e. stop the irrational thoughts and make way for an informed, calm and rational decision. That will be my opportunity for improvement next time. :)

Don’t let fear consume you…face it head on!