Overcoming Fears

Overcoming fears.

Should that end with a period, a question mark, or an exclamation point.

I have a fear of high places. To the extent that a TV show that has scenes that are on high places bothers me. But flying does not bother me. Walking to the edge of a balcony in a tall building or going up in an elevator with glass walls,...no thank you. You will see me facing the door.

I am not sure where this came from. I can only possibly tie it to a story my mother told about me as a young kid climbing the chain link fence in our backyard and slipped and got caught. As the story goes I was hanging upside down. Not sure for how long or if the chain link fence was caught on my pants or in my leg. Either case I do not remember that at all.

Once I overcame the fear after a seminar I went to. That lasted for a COUPLE OF HOURS.

The point of the story is that we all have things from our past that affect how we live our lives. Some good, some bad. A lot for survival that our many many years years of existence have helped us achieve. The negative aspect of that occurs when those hidden fears prevent us from pursuing something we want. Something that could improve who we are or help someone else improve who they are.

Fear is the number one killer of people doing things they have not done before. Things like asking someone out for the first time. Changing jobs, Changing schools. Moving to a new city. Making a career change. Stepping into a new role in your current job or making the decision to go out on your own and create your own business.

So how does someone overcome these fears that may be holding us back from living the life we really want to live? Here are three questions to ask yourself.

"If time and money weren’t an issue, what would I be doing right now?"

"What is keeping me from doing that?"

"What do I have to do to get to where I want to be?"

Once you have those answers,

"What are you willing to give up getting what you want?"

Will you have to break through the wall of fear of the unknown? More than likely that could be one. The unknown might also include "What if I don't succeed?" "What will people think of me if I don't succeed?" Those types of questions are almost endless, but they are all a form of fear.

To overcome the fear, you have to be willing to pay the price. The gain has to have more value than the pain. As 'they' say - "The juice has to be worth the squeeze."

There are more questions here than answers. Another question...how bad do you want what it is you want and are you willing to make the sacrifice. The answers have to come from within.

Share your story of how you overcame one of your fears and let me know if this makes any sense.

My fear - nobody responds...