I was sharing with someone this week some advice. If I had to share only one thing, it would be these 3 words:
“What scares me?”
That prompt is responsible for so many of the big stories in my life. I did the scary thing, and something incredible happened.
And here’s the actual scary truth of it: Once done, that thing ended up being no big deal.
It’s amazing how big a mountain we can create of these choices in our lives. The explanation is our brains haven’t kept up with our human society. We live lives of unimaginable comfort and security, compared to all of human existence. Because our lives are not actually in danger in anymore, our brains will attach that fear to things that simply don’t deserve it.
Acts as simple as speaking up, sharing an opinion, making an offer.
And here’s the extra burn: That fear, that thing that our brain is trying to protect us from, usually a fear of changing the status quo – is often the exact thing we should be doing.
I felt fear today giving my opinion to someone on a forum. I wrestled with whether I should. I wrestled with the idea of how what I had to say would be received by them. I was scared of upsetting them. I was scared that I might be overstepping and they would not like me.
I went back and forth, and then ultimately decided to take my own medicine – I did what scared me and said what I wanted to say. I realized I would be denying them my gifts if I gave in to the fear. That would be a terrible thing to do.
And then it gave me inspiration to write this piece and share it with you. What value would I have denied you today had I given into the fear?
So tell me, what value did you get from this piece? Or even better, tell me what scares you.
