“Everything you ever wanted is sitting on the other side of fear” is a fabulous quote by George Addair (also passed on to me by one of my clients).
How many times has this been true in your life? That what you want has a great big pile of fear sitting just before it.
Fear that makes you wonder if you can actually overcome it to get to the prize you want on the other side.
I can think of loads.
How about all the times you want that new job but you don’t think you’re good enough/qualified enough etc?
How about that person you wanted to ask out on a date but didn’t think they’d say yes?
How about the dance/art/language/instrument/cooking course you wanted to take but were too scared that you might not be good enough?
There are so many things we don’t attempt for fear of looking stupid, not being good enough, or caring too much what other people think.
Those fears can be debilitating.
They paralyse us.
And stop us moving towards something that could be really rewarding.
But what if those fears were unfounded?
Would you want to miss out on something that you could really enjoy because your scaredy cat brain was saying don’t do anything too different or scary?
And even if those fears were accurate, would you want them to paralyse you? What if you weren’t a natural dance star or Picasso? What if you couldn’t get a French accent right? What if you weren’t a great guitar player? And what if you didn’t become a gourmet at-home chef?
Would it really matter?
Would the satisfaction of giving something a try, of stretching yourself, of being brave, be greater than the fear?
We only grow by stretching ourselves. We only overcome these fears by taking action. We only get to be the best version of ourselves by being willing to do new things.
So next time you’re held back by fear, try to do something different and just go for it.
