REMOVING INTER-FEAR-ANCE

I woke up yesterday morning to find myself experiencing an unanticipated first hand encounter with the debilitating, energy depleting, paralyzing effects of inter-FEAR-ance. Vivid images of me getting pinned beneath a boulder and drowning in the rapids of the Ocoee River consumed my thoughts. I could not shake them. Nor could I back out my promise to take my son and his friends whitewater rafting. I literally felt stuck between a rock and a wet place as we drove 2 hours toward the hill country of Tennessee.

Inter-FEAR-ance = any internal conversation (self-talk ) or external distraction that threatens to undermine my performance in business or life.

As I drove I applied one of the principles I share with my clients to myself. I initiated a self-interrogation session in an attempt to remove my inter-fear-ance before it ruined my experience with my son.

SELF-INTERROGATION SESSION: Where did this fear come from? When did it first surface? What triggered it; internal thoughts or external events? Is this an imagined or real fear? How can I tell the difference? If left unchecked what effect will this fear have on my overall performance in business and life? What steps can I take now to remove this fear from my future?

=======================================================

BUSINESS APPLICATION: Before I continue, I would like to encourage you to pause and engage in your own self-interrogation session. Please take a few minutes to ask yourself the following questions to evaluate the potential effect inter-fear-ance may be having on your ability to grow your business.

What are the top 3 fears that are holding me back from growing my business? Am I afraid to invest in new office space? Am I afraid of engaging in difficult conversations with my partners or staff? Am I afraid of asking my clients for referrals? Am I afraid of presenting more diverse product solutions? Am I afraid to offer strong advice to my biggest clients because it might weaken our relationship?

Once you have identified your top fears invest some time running them through the SELF-INTERROGATION SESSION questions above.

=======================================================

I would like to tell you that by the time we reached Big Frog Expeditions I had removed my inter-fear-ance and was ready to shoot the rapids. That was not the case. However, investing time in my self-interrogation session ended up paying huge dividends as our day played out.

I swear the Big Frog logo hopped off our guide's T shirt and landed in my throat as he described the exact scenario that had been filling my mind with fear all morning. "When you fall out of the boat, float on your back with your feet up and pointed downstream. Don't try to stand up or your feet will wedged in the rocks. No matter how strong you are, the river is stronger. Once your feet are stuck the water will force you face down below the surface."

While he was still speaking my mind vaulted back to the exact moment in time when my fear of whitewater rafting had been planted by a financial advisor in one of my classes. He had described in great detail what it felt like when he got tossed out a raft in a West Virginia river, sucked under water, and pinned beneath a giant boulder by the undertow. I will never forget him sharing how he breathed in the cold water instead of air just before he made his peace with God and passed out. Apparently when his body went limp he was miraculously launched back to the surface where he was rescued and resuscitated on the shore.

Suffice it to say, I was gripped with fear as we approached and navigated one rapid after another during the first two miles of our five mile journey. Just when I thought my fear had peaked our guide, gave the command to paddle back upstream and straight into the class IV rapid we had just survived. I have to admit, I did not participate in the paddling process, hoping my son and his friends would not be able to get in position to go "surfing" without me. When our guide explained the goal of "surfing" was to position ourselves directly beneath the rapid so we could fill our raft with water, I screamed out, "Have you lost your mind! Why would any sane person want to flood their boat?"

Our guide shrugged as the whitewater sucked our raft in, began flooding the boat, and spun my side directly beneath the rushing rapid. I anxiously watched our guide's body language and facial expressions searching for any sign of panic or regret for having put us such a life threatening situation. Meanwhile, my son and his friends were letting out war cries, laughing and having the time of their life.

It took me a few minutes to appreciate what our crazy river guide had done for me. By forcing me to paddle head on into my greatest fear, he had helped me remove my inter-fear-ance. As I began to relax and enjoy the adrenalin rush of the next few rapids, it became clear that although whitewater rafting poses some real dangers, my fears were both imagined and unnecessary. Our guide had been leading clients down that stretch of the Ocoee River for a decade. Over 250,000 rafters had been down the river this summer with zero deaths.

SOLUTION: The next time you encounter inter-fear-ance that threatens to keep you from growing your business I encourage you to paddle straight into your greatest fear. Have that difficult conversation. Ask for that referral. Sign that lease for new space. Present new product solutions. And offer strong advice. In short, act like my river guide did yesterday. Be fearless, create a memorable client experience and do whatever it takes to remove your clients' inter-fear-ance as you lead them safely toward their desired destination.