Ready to face your fear and take that leap of faith?
I’m afraid that facing our fears is something we all have to do at some time or other. There are things no-one likes doing, things like sitting exams for example. Just the thought of them makes many a palm sweat! But they’re necessary to get what you want from life.
Every person who has ever proposed to someone will have felt fearful. But they knew that on ‘the other side’ would be a lifetime of happiness so they went ahead and popped the question anyway.
Anyway, that’s me setting the scene for this blog.
To explain further, here’s a recent personal example of how I overcame fear.
Taking my usual exercise routine to the next level
I love getting out in the fresh air and exercising, you’ll often find me open water swimming – there’s nothing like it for feeling free. I also like to run and I sometimes even pop on a pair of lycra shorts and head off on my bike. From time to time I’ve even been known to put these three events together - and complete a triathlon, but always with meticulous planning around training, equipment and post race diet!
I’d signed up to complete the Chester Deva Triathlon. I had every intention of training for it, but for one reason or another that didn’t materialise. Some days I simply didn’t have the time, I nursed a cold for a few days and other days the weather just wasn’t fit. Needless to say, my training plan didn’t get past the starting blocks – it remained a plan, rather than become a reality.
Two weeks before the event I shared the news with my fellow ‘training’ partners, Kate and Louise, that I wouldn’t be joining them.
But I did do it. So, what changed my mind?
The afternoon before the big day Kate came to visit me. It was clear that she was excited about her triathlon, albeit a little apprehensive. Being prepared was the antidote to calming her nerves so we checked through her kit together. After gaining full marks for her kit inspection we walked into town to check out the location where the event was to take place. The atmosphere was amazing, and I began to wonder why I had made the decision not to take part in this local event with a community of people I’m so proud to be a part of?
Using a technique that Tim Ferris speaks of in his TED Talk called ‘fear setting’, I took a step back to consider what was really holding me back and preventing me from giving it a go?
I knew in my heart of hearts I was fit and strong enough to complete it, so what was it I was really afraid of? Was it showing myself up in front of others by not having the ‘right’ kit, letting myself down by not getting a great time, not exactly knowing what I was throwing myself into, or was it a feeling of overwhelm?
Once I’d worked out what was stopping me, I took time to think about what I needed to do to overcome these obstacles?
This is what I came up with. I could borrow my husband’s wetsuit (yeah, it was a little big and I may not look quite the part, but really did that matter – would anyone even notice?), I could reduce my commitments for the following week and perhaps get a takeaway for tea. If I had trained, I’d be able to get quite a good time, but surely what mattered was that I was there, not how quickly I did it?
And then I thought about the most powerful part of this exercise – what was I giving up by not giving it a go? The chance to be part of something in my local community, the opportunity to support and encourage Kate and Louise, the chance to get that real feeling of being alive which comes when we push ourselves mentally and physically out of our comfort zone and into our stretch zone.
It was at that point that I knew I just had to do it.
It is better to do something I’d regret, than to regret something I didn’t do.
I finished! Slower, yes, but not by that much, which I put down to the power of mindset. The lack of training meant I had no expectations of myself and I enjoyed it much more than other races I’ve done before.
So, next time you are considering whether to take the leap or not, ask yourself these three questions. It works every time!
1. What is holding you back?
2. What can you do to remove these obstacles?
3. What are you giving up by not taking the leap?
Finally, I have some effective tools and techniques to help you master these steps and free your path ahead so you can proceed to succeed! To learn more about them feel free to get in touch and book in a free discovery call.
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