One of the biggest enemies of productivity and success is fear. We are afraid of losing the investment, of how people around us react, of how they see us, of wasting time without getting results… However, when it comes to embarking on a new project the list of fears is practically endless. Sometimes the fear is so great that it presents us with a frightening picture and makes us abandon the project even before starting it. Then maybe we see someone else doing what we wanted to do and we complain for not having enough courage.However, the difference between a person who is committed and one who reverses is not the courage, but the way to manage the fear. It is normal to feel fear when we are forced to make important decisions and we believe that there is no possibility of retracing our steps to change a possible mistake. People who move forward have not necessarily eliminated fear, but they have learned to take advantage of it, learning to live with the fear of failure. How did they do it?- Forgetting the “all or nothing” position. Fear usually appears when we see decisions as inevitable, when we think we can't go back. In that moment, it is as if we get a blow to the stomach and we start to feel anxiety and insecurity. However, remember that a project can always improve, you can always reconsider the objectives and change course. It is true that there is always an element of risk but you are not jumping off a cliff, you are descending gradually.- Taking advantage of the eustress. The most effective people are not those who live without stress, but those who are able to obtain benefits from that extra dose of energy that eustress (positive stress) offers us. These people reach an optimal level of anxiety and take advantage of it before it becomes negative. This feeling gives them the boost they need and helps them decide.
- By playing down. What is the worst possible outcome? Imagine the darkest scenario. What are the odds of this happening? How many things have to go wrong for this to happen? In fact, our mind has a tendency to imagine catastrophic situations. AND
normal. But objectively, the odds of the worst possible scenario occurring are much lower than you might think, because you always have the option to change course. Furthermore, it has been shown that worst-case scenarios often don't make us feel as bad as we think.
- Learning more about you. Many times, fear has a message to convey to us. The most successful people do not hide their fears and do not try to ignore them, but listen to them. Why are you afraid of failure? What hidden experiences and emotions are behind this fear? Are these mere exaggerations or are they warnings that should be paid attention to? When you listen to your fears and win, you become a safer and stronger person, someone who has managed to integrate their life experiences and who is in balance with their past. Therefore, it will be possible to look to the future with confidence.
