You know what’s been on my mind a lot lately? Fear.
Yeah, pretty weird, huh?
But there’s a reason why.
I’m an entrepreneur. If you’re reading this, you probably are too.
That means you know that entrepreneurship can be scary at times. You’re trying to build something that isn’t easy to build.
Not only that, what you’re building is intensely important to you. It’s something that you’re passionate about.
And you want so desperately for it to succeed. You don’t want to fail.
You don’t want to fail because you want to have more control over your life. You’re afraid to fail because you want to build wealth for you and your family. You’re afraid of failing because the thought of spending more of your years in corporate America sounds odious to you.
I’ll admit it. I get afraid. And I know I’m not the only one.
However, I recently found this quote by Karl Augustus Menninger:
“Fears are educated into us, and can, if we wish, be educated out.”
This quote struck me because I never thought about fear in this way. We tend to assume that our fears are automatically ingrained in us. It’s like we think are fears are biologically hardwired into our thinking.
But it’s not true. We are afraid because we have been taught to be afraid. Every day, we are told to fear all kinds of unforeseen catastrophes. The sky is falling!
But if our fears have been educated into us, how do we educate them out? I’ve been thinking about how to lessen the impact of fear in my own life. Over the past few months, I’ve found some ways to do this.
While it may not be possible to completely remove your fears, there are things you can do to keep them from paralyzing you. The tips outlined in this post have helped me, and they will help you too. You can thank me later.
Face Your Fears
One of the ways to unlearn your fears is by doing what you’re afraid of. Yes I know it’s a cliche. But it’s true.
When you force yourself to do what you’re afraid of, it helps you put your fear into perspective. You realize that what you were afraid of isn’t as bad as you thought it would be.
Maybe the risk you were afraid to take wasn’t as risky as you thought it was. You never know!
Take the fear of rejection, for example. Many entrepreneurs are afraid to sell because they don’t want to get rejected. The thought of hearing the word “no” is terrifying to them.
When I first started out in sales, I was the same way. I’m pretty thick skinned but even I was intimidated by the idea of having prospects turn me down.
But I ended up getting rejected anyway. Over and over again. Want to know what i found out?
Rejection is overrated.
It’s really not that bad. Now, I can get rejected and not even bat an eye.
It’s the same with other fears. When you actually face them, you find out that they’re not nearly as horrible as you thought.
Pretty cool, right?
Put It Into Perspective
Putting your fears into their proper perspective is a great way to lessen the effect it has on you. You have to think critically about the things you’re afraid of.
Yes, it’s true. Many of our fears can be defeated using critical thinking. It may sound crazy, but keep reading and I’ll show you how.
Asking yourself these questions will help:
- What is the worst that could happen?
- If the worst does happen how bad are the consequences?
- What can you do to mitigate the potential impact of the worst case scenario?
Most of the things we’re afraid of will seem less scary when we actually think about it beforehand. Let’s use the example of rejection again. Here’s how you can think critically about the prospect of being turned down for a sale.
What’s the worst that could happen if you get rejected? Is your world going to come crashing down? Of course it isn’t. You’re just going to move on to the next prospect.
Rejection isn’t going to destroy you unless you let it. You have control over this. Remembering the fact that you have control over how you allow things to affect you can make you less afraid.
What can you do to mitigate the potential impact? Make sure you know how to sell effectively! This won’t prevent rejection from happening; rejection is inevitable in sales. But it will help you get rejected less.
Maintain Your Confidence
A lack of confidence is one of the main things that make people afraid. When you doubt yourself, you make it easier for fear to creep in. You can’t afford to let this happen.
All too often people focus on the negative. You hone in on your weaknesses and the mistakes you have made. And it makes you doubt your abilities.
What makes people do this?
The culprit is our self talk. The way you talk to yourself influences how much confidence you have.
There’s nothing wrong with being aware of your shortcomings. But you also have to focus on your strengths as well. It’s the only way to remain confident.
Instead of focusing only on what you’ve done wrong, focus on the things you’ve done right. As a matter of fact, you should do this every day!
I actually developed a worksheet to help with this. You can download it for free here. It will help you celebrate your wins and build your confidence.
Confidence is important. If you continue to keep your confidence level high, you won’t be as afraid to continue moving forward.
Conclusion
Your fears have been educated into you. That means you can educate them out. You need to unlearn the fears you have learned.
Confront your fears by doing what you’re afraid of.. Keep your fears in perspective by thinking about them critically. Keep your confidence high by improving your self talk.
Keep moving forward.
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