Gaining Confidence by Facing Your Fears

It saddens me to see business owners unable to grow their businesses because they are paralyzed by fear. The truth is, there is no way to eliminate fear in your life, it will always exist.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962), is one of my most favorite leaders. She became a leading women politician of her day. In 1921, her husband Franklin was struck with polio. With that in mind, Eleanor organized Democratic women to help Franklin be elected governor in 1928 and then president four years later. Eleanor was incredibly influential in shaping the Universal Declaration of Human Rights when President Truman appointed her as delegate to the United Nations. She said, “You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, ‘I lived through this horror, I can take the next thing that comes along.’ You must do the thing you think you cannot do.” She also learned that “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”

The only way to grow as a person, a business professional and a leader is to step outside your comfort zone and face your fears. Each time you do it, I promise you it gets easier and easier.

I personally have learned to get comfortable “being uncomfortable”. For example, I do things that scare me and empower me, such as sky diving, trapeze flying, race car driving, zip lining, speaking in front of large groups, shooting videos, investing in myself and my business and staring in my own weekly Web TV show. I do these things, because over the years, I have learned this is the best way for me to keep up leveling my life and my business.

I have created a formula for you that will help you move past your fears.

Here are the 5 Steps to Conquering Your Fear

1. Make the decision to face your fear.
2. Trust that you will get through it and become stronger and more confident because of it.
3. Take action. Do the thing that you are fearful of.
4. Assess your feelings. How do you feel?
5. Celebrate your accomplishment!

Fear truly is an illusion we create in our minds. I once heard it referred to as False Evidence Appearing Real, which makes a ton of sense!

I challenge you to think of one thing in your business that you would like to do, but for some reason fear is holding you back. Then, follow the 5 steps above to defeat and conquer your fear once and for all! Please let me know how it goes. I would love to hear about your experience. Comment below.