Most of you probably remember that show “Fear Factor” that was on a few years ago. When I watched that show, my fear factor was always when the contestants had to eat something nasty. What did they get paid, like $125,000.00??? Dude, you would have to pay me WAY more than that to eat a pig rectum! A great example of how mind over matter can accomplish amazing things if you want it badly enough.
So, what is your fear factor and what steps do you take to overcome it? When I started in internet marketing, my main fear factor was in how I was going to establish myself among the many people who were already out there doing what I wanted to do. There is no doubt that everyone has to start somewhere, but how do you do that without looking like you are starting somewhere???
For me, it was in establishing myself in what I already knew how to do. I’ve been a teacher for a long time and one area that I consider to be a strength is in teaching. Now I wouldn’t want to teach quantum physics, but if you give me a topic that I have an interest in and can apply the knowledge, I am pretty confident that I can teach it to others in a way they can relate to.
Now that’s not to say that that was my only fear factor, I had (and still have) a number of them. Fear of the unknown was a big factor for me. Could I make this work, what would happen in 3 months, in 6 months, in a year? I didn’t know, and I still don’t know what the future holds. What I do know now is that I have much more control over the future than I have at any other point in my life.
Here are some other fear factors I have lived through (and I have lived through them, just as you will!)
- Fear of failure
- Fear of success (think about it; what happens when everything you want starts to fall in place?)
- Fear of rejection (huge in our business)
- Fear of responsibility (as you become more successful, you do acquire more responsibility)
- Fear of accountability
- Fear of disappointment
The key here is to recognize your fears for what they should be: motivations for you to take control and tackle them as they come along to derail you. I like to play the “so what, then what?” game. In this game I take my fear factor and say, “what’s the worst that can happen?” and after I have imagined every dire circumstance I say, “then what?” until I have no more “then what’s?” left.
You must make your fear factors work for you and not against you. Think of them not as fear factors, but as challenges to rise up to in your quest to be all the wonderful person that you were intended to be.
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