The Fear Fallacy
Have you ever been paralyzed by fear? Maybe before a presentation, a tough personal decision, a job interview, etc.
When we have fear we are drawing a reality in our mind that, in many cases, is not real. Unless we are in front of a lion, chances are we are exaggerating the peril in our minds.
The quality of life we live highly depends on the amount of uncertainty we are comfortable with. Let’s get comfortable with the uncertainty; let’s not imagine too many negative outcomes.
I encourage you to take Courageous Actions on a daily basis, “Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway”, that is my mantra. Like I mentioned earlier, unless there is a lion in front of you, Follow The Fear, since it is showing you the way!!
I learned this lesson early on in my life when my father was teaching me how to ski. He used to say: “follow me” and that is all I could do, just follow him no matter where he was taking me!! Soon I realized I was doing exactly the same thing in my life, being brave and embarking on challenging projects, taking calculated risks and enjoying the ride!
The key here is not just to step outside your comfort zone BUT to make your box bigger!! That way your quality of life will increase, doing things you may have not imagined before.
It is unbelievable, but what we put in our conscious mind has four times a bigger impact than what happens to us in life. This is HUGE, since it means we can control our mind and what we feel!! So let’s put positive images, thoughts, etc in our conscious mind and we will fly in joy….
Something else that helps tremendously in those moments of panic is breathing techniques and meditation. Those two tools work marvels! You can use the 4-7-8 breathing technique two or three times a day or whenever you need it. Daily meditation for 15-20 minutes has tremendous benefits: increases empathy, increases resilience to face stress, decreases blood pressure, decreases inflammation, decreases the likelihood of disease, and so many others…
What we are doing with these techniques is releasing the Relaxation Response, since once we do, the stress response cannot co-exist at the same time. Contact me if you would like some direction to implement breathing techniques and/or meditation.
A trick: when something scares you, think about something bigger/scarier/ more challenging and then compare it…does it feel smaller now?
So what are specific actions you could undertake? :
• Make that phone call you were dreading to make
• Say Yes to that speaking engagement you were offered
• Create that project from scratch with innovative ideas nobody has imagined before
• Embark on that course that will increase your competitive power
• Say” I love You” to that special person you care about so much
• Get ready for that meeting, don’t be afraid, just prepare for it, not just to decrease uncertainty, but to “make your box even bigger”
• Go to that Yoga class you always wanted to try, no need to feel “ridiculous”, nobody is paying attention to you.
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If you have any questions about how you could benefit from health coaching, please schedule a free initial consultation with me. During this session, we will discuss your health and lifestyle to determine how I can best support you in achieving your goals.
Virginia