Sucker Punch Your Fears And Start Living
For most of my life, I lived in fear. Every choice I made was influenced by fear of rejection, fear of blending in, fear of not succeeding. It took me until only a few years ago to realize that fear was governing my life.When I became aware of this fact, I was finally able to start facing it, and FIGHTING it. I finally started to feel like I was LIVING my life instead of watching it happen to me.I realized that the most important actions you take in life are those that scare you sh**less.My challenge for you today is to identify YOUR fears so that you can get past them and start living a fuller life. First off, we have to find out what your dreams are.
Identifying Your Goals
List-making time! You may have heard of life lists, and here’s where I want you to start yours. This can be as long or as short as you want (remember you can always add on later), but I want you to include your most important, highest-ranking goals that would add the most value to your life. These are the ones that get you excited just thinking about them!Ask yourself: what do I want to achieve more than anything? Do you want to get married and raise a loving family? Do you want an awesome, high-paying job with a big desk and a full wall of windows? Do you want do a street cart tour, eating your way through every country in the world? The more specific you are, the better.
What's Keeping You From Achieving Them?
Now look at these goals and ask yourself: what’s keeping me from doing this NOW? Are you really doing as much as you possibly can in order to get yourself closer to these goals? Be VERY honest with yourself- are you REALLY doing everything in your power to get closer to what you want in life? This is where we start getting our hands dirty.If these goals mean the world to you, why aren’t you giving your full self to them? What scares you so much that you can’t give more of yourself to the life you want to live? This is where the fear lies- it keeps you from gaining ground and puts you in procrastination-ville.
Procrastination Station
Procrastination is the most common answer to the questions above, but if these goals really are what you want out of life, then procrastination doesn’t fly as an excuse with me. There is no reason why you should wait or put off the life you’ve always dreamed of! And do you know why you’re procrastinating? Because you’re SCARED of something. What is that fear?Are you scared that you might not achieve it? How will you know if you don’t try?
The Nightmare Vs. The Dream
I’m not a devotee to Tim Ferriss’s 4-Hour Work Week as many of my friends and fellow bloggers are out there, but he writes of a great tactic for facing your fears. He calls it "Defining the Nightmare," or thinking of the worst possible scenario if you were to take that step you're so afraid of. How bad would it really be?Are you scared of being rejected by your dream job if you apply? If they say no now, at least you tried and you know more for the next time you apply. Now you can CONTINUE trying with similar companies that will look good on your resume for when you apply to that dream job again in the future.If you decided to ask that girl out that you see at the coffee shop every week, what’s the worst that could happen? She could say no and it may be a little awkward for a bit, but then you’re still you. You won’t die, and if she said no, maybe it’s just not meant to be. Now you can move on and find the girl you’re really meant to be with.Now, look at the BEST possible scenario. What if that girl says yes? What if you go out and have the best date either of you have ever had, fall in love, get married, and realize your dream of getting married and raising a loving family? How can that possible outcome be overshadowed by the fear of being awkward for a couple weeks?One thing Ferriss realized was that his worst case scenarios often threatened negative- but temporary- life changes, whereas the best possible scenario usually provided a positive, permanent life change!Is your dream important enough for you to risk temporary discomfort for permanent bliss?
Identify The Next Step Toward Your Dreams
Spend some time writing down exactly what stirs up emotion in you while going over these questions. Recognize when something hits a chord in you. THIS is the first step to identifying the right path to take.When you feel that ping of fear about taking a step toward your goal, follow it. That fear is a sign that you are getting closer to achieving it!Do you know what your brain fears more than anything?Change.Do you know what is required of you in order to achieve your life goals?CHANGE.The fear that you feel is your brain trying to keep you exactly where you are RIGHT NOW.Unless you want to stay stagnant, you’re going to have to sucker-punch your fears in the face to get to the good stuff. And that is exactly what I recommend you do.
I CHALLENGE YOU TO SUCKER PUNCH YOUR FEARS AT LEAST ONCE THIS WEEK- DO ONE THING THAT SCARES YOU SH**LESS
Ask that girl out. Apply for your dream job. Start researching that OneWorld ticket so you come that much closer to eating Som Tum in the streets of Bangkok!I can’t tell you how liberating it is to be scared out of your mind and do it anyway. Most of the time, I’ve come out on top- in a better position than I was in before. Facing my fears and pushing through them lead me to make the drastic changes that lead me to fulfilling these dreams:
- After quitting my corporate job, I now make my own schedule and earn twice as much for 3/4 the hours
- I've lost 30 pounds of fat and gained 10 of muscle, and I'm stronger and have more endurance than I ever have before
- By the end of this year, I'll have been to Sedona, Washington D.C., Portland, Kauai, Costa Rica, and Paris- I'll have traveled more this year than I have my whole life.
Starting on the path toward every one of those goals made me want to wet my pants. What if I fail? What if I go bankrupt? The most rewarding parts of life are those that you fight for and take risks in achieving. Some you’ll fail at, but the fights you win make the losses seem trivial. The confidence and strength that facing your fears provides is priceless.So what fear are YOU going to sucker punch this week? Write me in the comments below and help inspire others to be fearless, too!It's been one week since the official launch of Strong Inside Out, and I want to thank everyone for giving this new site a shot! I hope it helps you all overcome whatever stands in your way of living your dreams.Happy Punching!Amy