Day 2: What are you really afraid of?
Yesterday we talked about what our fear is holding us back from accomplishing? Today, I want to ask a different question:
What is that you are actually afraid of? What terrible thing do you think may happen if you go for some of those things you wrote down or thought about yesterday?
This is one of the most powerful questions we can ask ourselves. This little exercise alone has worked wonders for me in overcoming some of my fears.
Go back to those things you wrote down yesterday that you would accomplish if you had no fear. Pick 2 or 3 of them and ask “What I’m afraid is going to happen if I try these things?”
Sometimes you will discover that things your afraid of are ridiculously insignificant and there’s no reason not to go for it. Let’s take my fear of submitting a guest post to another big blog. Here’s my answer to that question:
- I’m afraid that I’ll be disappointed if my post gets rejected.
- I’m afraid that I’ll end up wasting my time if spend 2-3 hours crafting an excellent post and it gets rejected.
- I’m afraid that the person who reads my submission will think it’s really bad.
That’s pretty much all I could come up with as possible negative outcomes if I go ahead and submit my post. Pretty silly, huh?
Sometimes, however, you will discover that you have some pretty legitimate fears about some things that are a little more detrimental. For example, my fear of attending the conference at the end of this month. I’m afraid:
- It might be like middle school where I had no friends, no one to sit with at lunch, and I felt like a total outcast.
- I might end up having no fun and learning nothing, and therefore I would waste my time and money.
- There might be some awkward moments.
- I might make a total fool of myself when I meet the “big” bloggers.
So those things are a little more serious, although still not earth shattering. Even so, it’s helpful just to look at that list and see that worst case scenario I end up wasting some time and money. Also, when I look at those things written out, I’m already realizing how unlikely they are to occur. Yes, it is likely that there will be an awkward moment or two, but it’s highly unlikely that I’ll have NO fun and learn NOTHING! But we’ll talk more tomorrow about looking at the possible benefits.
So, go ahead and make list of what you’re actually afraid of. Share in the comments if you don’t mind.
You can read the rest of the series here.
Positively Alene Says
Love this. A friend and I were just talking about this at lunch today. Fears of things we know we shouldn’t be, but yet they shop us in our tracks.
Have you by chance read the book “Flinch?”
It’s awesome. I wrote a post about taking a cold shower which was one of the homework assignments — conquering fears!
janel Says
I just heard about the book Flinch the other day. it sounds fascinating.
Ami Allison Says
WOW! Those fears are the very reason why I don’t enter giveaway for conferences or buy tickets. BUT, I haven’t been to one and that is sad. It’s sad to let those fears keep me from going. I’m glad you are. I can’t wait to hear all about it. 🙂