I just found out that next Friday I get to go do a tree-to-tree aerial adventure program. Rope courses, zip-lines and aerial obstacles oh my!! I have a healthy respect for heights and a natural aversion to rapid descent from extreme heights (falling). This will be a big challenge for me and an opportunity to face some fears. I've faced a lot of them over the last 9 months since starting the whole bootcamp exercise program.
Today I thought we would look at a few steps to translate your fears into successes.
1. Identify your fear. What's holding you back? Are you afraid to pick up the phone and make that cold call? Are you afraid to tell the client no because you might lose the business? Are you afraid to tell your boss that you think his new idea is wrong for the company? Are you afraid of big hairy spiders (okay that one is really justified)? A nameless fear is the worst because we have a sense of dread and aren't really even sure why. By giving a name to our fear we can begin to combat it.
2. Have a support team. In all of the new things I've tried this last year and all the fears I've faced I haven't had to do it alone. I have a great support group of friends in the trenches with me who lift each other up when we fall (literally and figuratively). I know they have my back and they know I have theirs. Gather your team who will motivate you, cheer you on and when needed give you that good solid kick in the behind that you need.
3. Break it down into smaller parts. My trainer always tells me to remember "It's a marathon not a sprint!" When she first told me to roll up on an exercise ball balancing on my knees while doing bicep curls with weights I just looked at her like she was nuts. Balance and I have not always been the best of friends. I was afraid I'd bounce head first into the nearest piece of equipment. Breaking it down into pieces helped. First just practice getting on the ball without weights. Once you've mastered that piece now do it while holding the weights. Once you've mastered that begin to do curls. It took me awhile but I own that ball now.
4. Set a reward. I like to believe that I can do things just for the intrinsic satisfaction but it just doesn't always work. I love to set goals. Having been in sales for the last 20 years the biggest fear I see among sales people is the dreaded cold call. Somehow the mere act of picking up the phone and calling someone you don't know and possibly hearing that person tell you no mortifies many sales people. Early on I learned to turn it into a game. I'd give different points for different type of activities and try to score as many points as possible. If I did it then I got a reward. Recently when I ran my first 5k I rewarded myself with a massage. It doesn't have to big just enough to help spur you across your own finish line.
5. Go for it! The longer you think about the doing something the harder it is to jump. I have a feeling that standing in the top of a tree and getting ready to let go and trust the zipline to carry me down would terrify me if I dwelt on it too long. Very few things are ever as bad as our minds would have us believe. I don't think anyone ever died from public speaking yet people fear it more than death. Tune back in after next Friday for an update on the results of the Tree Challenge!
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