Dancing with Fear

I’ve been asked to elaborate on the concept of dancing with fear.

There’s always an element of risk when we try something new. However, avoiding new challenges might be the biggest risk of all. Change is the only constant in modern life. Avoidance will take us nowhere. And fast. We have to leap to soar.

Yes, we can be afraid. In fact, we need to feel fear because it is a sign that there’s something at stake; that something is worth taking a risk. This is when we need to stand up to the obstacles and choose to chance the rapids and dare to dance the tides.

So how do we move from fear to freedom? It’s actually simple - we need to acknowledge our fears but forge ahead anyway taking one choiceful action at a time. Building mental strength and resiliency is like building physical strength and stamina - the more we exercise the stronger and better at it we get.
 
As it pertains to personal goals and achievement, dancing with fear has three key elements:

1.     Purpose & Clarity: Knowing what you are going after, what you hope to achieve and why. You don’t want to get to the top of the ladder to realize it’s leaning against the wrong wall.
2.     Perspective & Joy: know what motivates you, be inspired, and experience joy. When you wake up every morning happy and ready to start your day, you know you are on the right path. And when fear intrudes uninvited, flip it over.  Instead of focusing on the negative and all the different ways you can fail, focus on all the gifts you have to offer and imagine yourself wildly successful.
3.     Preparation & Flexibility: having a dream isn’t enough, you need a road map. Set clear goals and create a detailed plan. It’s not enough to imagine the top; you need to be willing to make the climb up. And pick yourself up when you stumble, dust yourself off and move forward until you succeed. Prepare for the journey ahead and be ready to adjust course along the way.

To learn more about letting go of fear, check out the Sedona Method. The premise is that danger is real but fear is just a product of the thoughts we create. Fear stands for False Evidence Appearing Real. Fear is a choice. We can continue to live as if terrible things will happen, or let go and create new thoughts and actions.

I invite you to step out of your comfort zone and become comfortable with the uncomfortable.

Do something that scares you.
 
Write a response back and share your experience with me. I’d love to hear from you.

New Possibilities

How wonderful it is to spread my wings and fly into the universe of new possibilities. I am excited to finally fully commit to growing my consulting and coaching business full-time, to just go for it.

As a career coach, I’ve helped many clients think about their lives at work and have offered them the tools to achieve success as they define it and to find fulfillment. I know that in taking the first step in exploring a dream, a path appears and grows wider with each subsequent choiceful action.

For years, I’ve encourage my clients to face their fears and move past any limiting assumptions and beliefs. Now it’s time for me to do the same, leave the security and stability of my day job behind and move onward and forward to doing the work that I love, to do something that matters.

There’s nothing quite like starting each day with the sweet freedom of a new beginning, with a greater sense of purpose, creativity,  and excitement. I am now dancing enthusiastically with my fear choosing to be a warrior rather than a worrier, to participate joyfully as new opportunities unfold and my client list grows.

In practice it means waking up every morning with the idea that we have a gift to offer and commit to being of service and making a difference for others.

5 steps to making your dreams come true:

1.      Believe that it’s possible: this doesn’t mean it will be easy, pain-free, or quick, but you have to truly believe that it is possible.

2.      Have a clear vision: your vision is a reflection of your dreams; it’s a picture of the future you are working to create and the motivation to start going after it with renewed purpose.

3.      Take choiceful actions: align your choices and actions to support your vision and recognize which choices and actions don’t support it.

4.      Remove from your life the things that no longer serve you: list all of your excuses and make yourself stronger than them, turn your excuses into your to-do list.

5.      Embrace the new: letting go of the old isn’t enough, you need to courageously accept the new that comes with the process and follow the unexpected paths that open up and evolve with a spirit of adventure and joy.