Have You ‘Felt the Fear’?

Last updated on June 19th, 2012Personal development, Small business0 comments

Last week I attended a fantastic workshop based on the book “Feel the Fear & Do It Anyway” by Susan Jeffers.  If you haven’t read the book then I would certainly recommend it.  In my opinion, it is one of the best personal development books that I have ever read.

According to the book, around 85% of us live in fear.  Whether we fear losing our job, home or someone close to us, these fears can often prevent us from leaving our comfort zone.  We don’t want to change things because we either fear rejection from the people around us or we worry that we won’t succeed and will feel a failure.  So we give ourselves a whole load of excuses for not doing something.  However, when we are forced to face our fears, whether it’s losing our job, or having to say no to a demanding client – we very often find that we can cope with the aftermath and our lives haven’t fallen apart after all.  We come to realise that we can handle it and our fears are therefore reduced.

I have some experience of this as my job was made redundant about 18 months ago.  Being someone who had worked solidly for over 20 years, not having a job was a terrifying experience.  When I told people I was going, a lot of people said to me “it’s fantastic – the world is your oyster”.  But I didn’t see it like that – I saw the world as a big and scary place!  However, once I got over the shock and started to think about what I really wanted to do then I became excited.  I decided to set up my own company and although I had the skills to do the job, like a lot of people I had no experience of running a business.  So I had to face another set of fears and there have been times when I’ve been so far out of my comfort zone that I’ve felt as if I was falling off a cliff!

Whether it’s attending networking events, speaking in front of a group of people, or having my first client meetings – all have been things that I was worried about and fearing that I would fall flat on my face and make a total fool of myself.  In the case of public speaking, I was downright terrified!  However, I’ve done them all and am still here to tell the tale.  I felt the fear and did it anyway!

Let’s face it, it’s natural to be frightened, and in some cases that fear can save our lives if we are facing a danger.  But fears that hold us back from growth and change can inhibit us from moving forward in our lives and achieving our dreams.  So if there’s something that you’ve always wanted to do but never done it, or if you constantly worry about the “what if” situations then think about what’s the worst thing that can happen.  Could you handle it?  I bet you could!

Valerie Eaton

Valerie Eaton provides virtual PA and online marketing services to self-employed professionals who are feeling overwhelmed by their workload and want more time to focus on growing their business.

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