AND YOU THOUGHT CLIMBING OUT OF BED WAS TOUGH

I recently saw a photograph online, which taken from the top of the Golden Gate Bridge. The view was incredible. Could you imagine how far you could see from that vantage point? The Sierra Mountain Range to the east and maybe the Redwoods to the north. Not to mention the entire bay area and the entire city of San Francisco. Just the thought of it made me feel as if I wanted to climb to the top of the bridge just for the view and to say I had done it. Of course faced with the real opportunity and the wind that is normally present in the bay area, I may feel different. I even posted the picture on Facebook and asked facetiously if anyone would want to climb to the top with me. The responses I got contained words like crazy, stupid and out of your mind!

If you missed Tuesday’s video post, click here view it now.

While scaling the Golden Gate Bridge is probably a reasonable thing to fear, it made me think about the things we fear that are unreasonable. Things as simple as standing our ground, asking for a raise, meeting new people, or learning a new subject. There are probably many reason we can point to for why we fear these things. But there are a few main reasons that when examined can help us overcome those things that are unreasonable to fear.

1. We like to be comfortable. Sometimes it’s as simple as that. Comfort is the killer of dreams, achievements, and passions. But don’t you think we can all stretch just a bit beyond our zone of comfort to include some some new and different things. I can think of no bigger shock to the system than being born, when we move suddenly from the only place we have ever known into a room filled with people, noise, probes, lights, and strangers. Yet we very quickly adapt and learn to become comfortable with this immense change.
2. We see failure as an end, rather than a means to an end. As any successful person will attest to, we must go through failure to make it to success. Those who truly embrace this concept, view failure as a learning experience rather than a mistake. The more learning experiences you have, the more you have learned!
3. It’s could be embarrassing if others find out I failed. We have all had those naysayers who have told us how they expect us to fail and that we shouldn’t even try. I feel so badly for those people. They have such a negative view of life. Their only success is squelching the dreams of others so they can have company in their world of average. Pay no attention to them, because they are self serving.

I spent most of childhood, being afraid of my own shadow. Afraid of how I would be perceived if I failed. Afraid of doing something different that would feel uncomfortable. I saw failure as an endpoint rather than a process. As an adult, I’ve learned to say yes and figure it out later. The funny thing is, most times what I “figure out” is that I already know.

And so do you!

 

Bearj Jehanian is a Maximum Potential Speaker and Trainer.  Through a combination of inspiration and online tools, Bearj inspires his audiences to build a foundation of belief, to support a decision to act on any idea and bring it to completion. Believe, Decide, Act.  You can find out more about Bearj here.