The Elephant in the Room: Fear

Fear has got to be the most unproductive emotion. As President Roosevelt said, “There is nothing to fear but fear itself.” I can’t agree with him more. Fear slows you down, clouds you mind, and prevents you from seeing clearly or acting boldly with strength of conviction and purpose. I know there are biological reasons why this is so, back to our primitive cave man years. But that doesn’t mean I like it!

I have felt fear as a tangible thing, so powerful there seems to be nothing else in the room, so to speak. It has entered my life most forcefully in relation to health issues; a son who had open heart surgery, a dad who had a surgery go wrong, and my own battle with breast cancer. That does not include all the sleepless nights worrying about a presentation I was about to give at work, a mountain I was committed to climb, or a challenge my family was facing at school. Its funny, but fear is all about what might happen. Once something really happens, you are in “doing mode” and life tends to push fear out of the room. So why do we waste time worrying about what might happen? And feeling like we are going to throw up??

As you work toward a career transition, don’t let fear slow you down. In fact, don’t let it into the room. Positive energy begets positive energy. Each time you meet someone, anticipate and visualize the meeting going well. Break your tasks down into bit size pieces so you don’t feel overwhelmed by the whole. Think of a surgeon who covers the body up and only works on a small patch of patient. Have you noticed, they never look at the whole body. Or a mountain climber who only takes one step at a time, if they thought of the crevasses up ahead, they would never take the first step much less scale the mountain.

So the next time you feel paralyzed by fear, take a moment to visualize a positive outcome. Break the tasks before you into small steps. Take the first step. And the next. And the next. Wonderful things will happen.

I love the thought conveyed by Jean Houston: "We all have the extraordinary coded within us, waiting to be released." Don't let that elephant box you in.