Fear is super effective
Fear is super effective...
...who knew I’d ever hear myself say that out loud...
I am grateful every day that my line of work affords me the opportunity to listen to some of the most driven and talented minds in their spaces.
In many cases, I am fortunate enough to call these people my clients, colleagues and friends. In other cases, I just get to listen and absorb the juicy goodness that comprises their thought leadership.
I recently was at a conference and Seth Godin delivered the keynote address, which mostly involved him answering questions…
...well, more specifically, he took an attendee’s questions and re-worded them until it was a question he’d like to answer, which, to me, was a badass move - a badass move that I aspire to pull off at some point in my career. :)
One of the attendee questions that he answered revolved around the topic of fear and anxiety as a business owner.
He asked Seth how to eliminate fear from the equation in order to break free from our own minds and grow a business without second-guessing ourselves every step of the way.
If that guy was expecting to give him this grand answer on evaporating fear in order to manifest into some kind of business owner superhero, his dreams were dashed in about 4 seconds.
Seth immediately responded with a resounding “that’s impossible…” since we are human and fear is innately wired into our consciousness in order to help keep us alive.
He continued his thought by talking about how fear shouldn’t be looked at as a negative, but, that it’s “super effective” in its motivation because when you “dance” with the fear, as opposed to flee from it, you can use it to hyper-narrow and focus your attention on what is most important in your life and business at that moment.
In addition, Seth continued the thought by noting that not only should you “dance” with it, but, be “thankful” that it’s present.
Really? Yup...
If it means something to you, you will be more emotionally attached to the outcome, so, fear, in this sense, acts as a “compass” with respect to what direction you should take, which ultimately allows you to accomplish more important tasks.
It also acts as a reminder that you’ve broken a plateau because we’re fearful when we step outside our comfort zone and attempt to grow in all areas of our lives.
Although I’ve never thought of fear in this way before, Seth’s take on it truly does resonate with me in the sense that fear is an amazing motivator in spite of its negative drawbacks.
If we feel the fear and do it anyway, that will allow us the opportunity to grow, which is ultimately what we all, as business owners, are looking to achieve. The only way to do this is by embracing the fear, placing a positive context on the emotions and feelings attached to it, and channel it in a way that leads to a favorable outcome.
Regardless, the advice he shared was invaluable, and, consequently, made my job more difficult since I kept putting the camera down to listen to him.
It was a very cool experience to be that close to someone that I’ve only heard speak on a screen - especially when they drop some knowledge that stays with you long after the conference has ended, :)
Who have you recently heard speak live that deeply resonated with you?
PS - For those of you who aren’t in the know, I mail out these blogs 3x a week, and lemme tell you, they’re a real party, so, if you’d like to get in on this, sign up for it here and I’ll throw in a free gift for you, because I care, :)