Overcoming My Fears
How writing about mine helped me get over them and realise I was being ridiculous
Last week my LinkedIn blew up.
A mentor helped me realise fear was preventing me from promoting my well-being talks, and I felt the best way to overcome them was to write about them and share them publicly.
Fears I knew were ridiculous, and the result of me being too stuck inside my own head. And the response confirmed it.
Fears I shared:
Worrying people will think I’m trying to be a “life coach”
Worrying I won’t be taken seriously because I didn't win any titles
I feel good for getting them out of my system, and not dealing with fears in the past led me to make some stupid decisions, like selling my family home to fund my start-up.
At the time, my brain was telling me, “Ben, you're amazing. You played Rugby for Australia and have an awesome pub. You don’t need investors.”
But the reality was I was scared of being rejected for having a stupid idea, so I convinced myself I didn’t need them.
Which was dumb and I’m not keen to have my public speaking career derailed by fear-based decisions too.
Anyways, thanks for reading. And keen to know if you have another way to get over a fear, aside from writing.
It is good that you have found a way to work through it by writing. Some don't get that far and remain locked up and I reference Jung's statement where your fear is there is your task. You have achieved a lot and it seems fear has played an important role. I guess it takes experience to understand fear is not negative.....it might even protect one.....
Fear is such an important emotion. It can drive or hinder us. When I feel fear, I try to reflect on the emotion's message. I don't think fear is ever something to 'get over' or to eradicate from our lives. The growth with the emotion of fear is learning to use it to help not hinder. This includes sitting with it, rather than making emotional or irrational decisions.