Fear the Pain, Do It Anway!
John G. Self
Career Advisor/Interview & Job Search Guide: We help executives and managers elevate their interview skills
On a cold, dreary Inauguration Day in 1933, with the U.S. mired in the depths of the Great Depression, President Franklin Roosevelt sought to bolster the nation’s confidence in his first inaugural address by declaring, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself, nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.”
It is a phrase that has stood the test of time. It has been used countless times as a message of confidence and reassurance, from corporate boardrooms to kitchen tables.
This week, the theme of our daily quotations — we post a “Good Morning” edition and another “After Hours” later in the day — has been fear and the role this emotion can play in our business lives. ?
The fear of rejection is one of the most common and damaging. People, which is to say the vast majority of us, who harbor this feeling, subconsciously or not, and allow it to flourish, do great harm to themselves, their lives and their careers, trying to avoid rejection. Of course, many other fears haunt people—fear of confrontation or conflict, both close cousins to rejection, fear of the dark, loud noises, severe weather, flying, spiders, snakes—the list seems endless. But it is the fear of rejection — and conflict/confrontation — that is career-centric.?
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