About this episode
All of us have challenges and fears in our life that we are faced with from time to time. Sometimes these fears are minor and sometimes they can become extremely debilitating. Either way, we only truly grow and succeed when we face our fears. Most of us have heard the phrase: True Success and Growth is created outside your comfort zone. I love this statement because it reminds me to focus on the opportunities that are presented to me whenever a challenge or fear is put in my path. I have experienced time and time again the success and fulfillment that has come into my life by facing my fears and “leaning into what I fear most”. There has never been a better time to learn and act on this principle than now. Our business, social, and economic environment is placing many fears in our path and I believe we can use this as an opportunity to Learn more about Ourselves, Grow our Success, and Create an Amazing Life of Fulfillment and Prosperity. But it will require some Bold, Courageous, and Intentional Actions on our part. I hope this message might inspire you to do just that… The Time I Walked Away from $250k. There have been many times that I have had to face my fears in difficult situations and life events. However, I can think of one in particular that really pushed me to a new level. I was twenty-nine years old and had built a successful sales team for a leading online stock education company. I was doing very well financially and had built a team consistently generating me over $250k per year. More importantly, I was married and had 5 kids at the time. I had built a relationship with an individual that owned a small events company doing about $20M per year in revenue with about 20 employees. This individual had presented me with the opportunity to walk away from my “cush” “job” and become the CEO of his company. I’m not sure what he saw in me, and I certainly did not feel qualified for the position. But, I was faced with the challenge or opportunity to walk away from an already built $250k per year to earn a commission (only on profit) of helping him to grow his company. I saw the potential, but it was a thought that literally terrified me. I had worked very hard to create the level of success I had created (from the ground up) and knew that it would require some serious “heavy lifting” to jump ship and move to the next level with this offer. I spent many long, stressful, and thoughtful days considering the offer. I knew that I wanted to go to the next level. The opportunity appeared to be sound but I would give up a solid (bird in the hand) income for an upside that was not guaranteed in any way. To say I was scared to make the move would be an understatement. But ultimately, I chose to make the move and I have never looked back. In hindsight, that move is what gave me an incredible amount of experience, success, relationships, and life skills. It was a bumpy ride (which we can cover at another time), but we were able to grow the company to over $200M in net collected revenue with over 300 employees in 5 short years. This was a perfect example of leaning into my Fear in order to Grow and Create Success. What do you Fear Most? The question I have for you is, “What is it that you fear right now in your professional life?” Is there an opportunity that you have been considering or presented with? Is there a skill that you have put off learning or developing? Is there a personal passion that you have wanted to start building a business around? Are there investing opportunities that you don’t feel qualified to start learning and doing? Maybe you have some current challenges or problems in your life or business that you simply don’t feel qualified to deal with. Maybe you have a relationship or a family matter that you can’t seem to get up the courage to start working on. Regardless of what the fear is that is present in your life, I can promise you that your “Greatest Accomplishments”…Your Best Life…is waiting just beyond that challenge or fear. See, I believe that your Fear is there for a reason that will benefit you. Maybe it’s your gut telling you that you need to address it. Maybe it’s your subconscious mind identifying to you an area that you can learn and grow from. Don’t get me wrong, I believe that fears can be real (in life and especially in our minds), but I also believe most FEAR is something we create to avoid problems in our lives…simply put it is “false events appearing real.” Maybe another way to look at FEAR is to see it as an opportunity, or a Highlighted area for Growth rather than a red flag to run away from. Either way, you were meant to do great things and can only accomplish your best life by addressing the road blocks holding you back from Greatness. Why Should you START with Fear? What can we hope to gain from facing our fears and How do we actually start Crushing those fears?… Here are just a few (of many) reasons to Face Your Fears: Gateway to Results- facing your fears can give you valuable experience that you can use to grow, build, and learn strategies to execute at a higher level in the future. Remember that even failure carries with it knowledge that will improve your skills moving forward. Personal Growth- the fastest way to grow is to stretch yourself. This will most certainly happen when you face your fears. You learn new ways to accomplish your goals, and you are forced to adapt to a new environment. Increased Fulfillment- personal growth is one of the most important ways to feel a greater amount of fulfillment and passion in your life. Truly living only happens when we are growing personally and professionally. Facing your fears is an amazing way to do this. Build Confidence & Belief- As we face our fears, we build confidence and belief in our own abilities to handle life and the amount of uncertainty we have in life. The experience that comes from dealing with fear creates new beliefs that we can handle any situation in life, and this will create more confidence in our ability to stop dealing with even greater challenges in the future. I can go on and on about the positive benefits that come with facing your fears. I also know that there can be difficult, emotional, and negative experiences that come with facing our fears. Rejection, Failure, and Setbacks can also come with facing your fears, but remember this… Anything that you can Learn from a Situation can be turned into a Positive if you will just Make the Decision that it will help you Grow and do better in the Future. How to Start Crushing Your Fear? Let’s talk about how you can start Crushing Your Fears and some ideas I have for helping you Take Action… I’ve learned all kinds of ways to deal with fear, challenges and struggles in my life. I wrote down a few of the Empowering Thoughts, Techniques, and Disciplines that I have learned and used over the years, and here are a few of the best ideas I can give you: Say Yes, then Figure it Out- Most every 7-Figure mentor that I know has adopted the idea that they will act on opportunity and figure it out along the way. You don’t need to know everything to take action. Good is Good Enough- Taking action on your dreams, desires and opportunities is good enough. Don’t wait for confidence to tackle your fears. Confidence comes after you push through your fears. Focus Your Energy- When you are leaning into fear, you must create space to focus your time, energy, and talent so you can develop the skills needed to handle the challenge. Don’t multitask when facing your fears. Surrounding yourself with Positive- Facing fears can be scary, but you can build up your confidence, belief, and abilities by surrounding yourself with others that have already faced similar fears. They can help you benefit from belief transference, positive influence, and support along the way. Eliminate Distractions- The best way to deal with your fears is to block out some time and hit them head on. Don’t allow distractions, easy ways out, and others to distract you from your objective and focus on conquering your fears. Do Less Not More- The key to handling your fears is not to take everything on all at once. Don’t feel you need to do it all. Just simply take the first step. Most times, the answers, details, and solutions come along the way. The path to dealing with your fears will most of the time reveal the solutions you are looking for along the way. Ultimately, there is no magic pill or easy way to get through facing your fears. You are the only one equipped to handle your fears. You are the only that can face them. But, if you will remember and adopt the idea that “Everything happens for a reason and that reason is there to Benefit me”, then your perspective will drive your experience. True or not, that will empower you to create an experience of growth and learning rather than failure, disappointment, and struggle. WARNING: Don’t Let This Happen! I have a thought that came to me, and it is a simple (but serious) word of caution or warning. Sometimes we fail to recognize that the opportunity or situation “already present in our life” is what we fear dealing with the most. As a result, we (as entrepreneurs, investors, or just humans) use new opportunities as excuses to “Not deal with Fear we currently have”. Let me give you an example. So many times I have seen entrepreneurs or individuals chase shiny objects (new opportunities) in order to find a “way out” of working hard and dealing with the struggles they may be currently facing. You cannot move from opportunity to opportunity thinking you are “operating outside your comfort zone” or facing new challenges, when you are truthful just avoiding finding solutions to your current situation. Learn to face your fears regardless of where they are present in your life. You Can Do It!! I know we all have greatness inside of us. I know that we are given challenges for a reason and that reason is to grow and develop the best versions of ourselves. This is not a destination driven objective. It is a path based journey. We learn, grow, and develop along the way for our entire lives. When you fall in love with the process…the path…then you release your need for the end result. When you stop fixating on the end result, you can start to really enjoy the process more. You are on a path that rewards the person willing to Lean into their Fears with the Benefit of Prosperity, Personal Growth, and Happiness. By avoiding your fears you are left with disappointment, regret, and failure. After all, you will miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. You will Benefit from 100% of the shots you take (regardless of scoring points) if you Learn something from every shot. Wayne Dyer said that as we all look back on the Tapestry of our Lives we will gain a better perspective and the Meaning and Purpose of our Challenges become more clear. It is my hope that when you look back on your life, you are Happy and Confident that you Leaned into your Fear…that you took the risks…that you embraced change…that you learned to love the process of Growth. I am working on that every day, and I believe you can too. You can do it. You have the abilities to handle anything if you will simply put your mind, effort, and resolve to doing it. What the mind can conceive and believe it CAN achieve. So, Start Creating Your Best Life Today.