What is Fear?
I feel in many ways that this is one of the most powerful topics we can discuss
and break down on your journey to success. With everything going on in the
world at the moment, I live with a conviction that if I provide you with every
resource you will need to chase down your dreams and I teach you how
to put this information into practical use, but I don’t talk about the obstacles
you will encounter; you will never effectively reap the rewards of your
full potential.
I asked a close friend of mine, "How would you define Fear?"
He is an incredibly intelligent guy and he studies success and places a
great emphasis on continued growth and progress, but when I asked
this question he replied with something very valid, not quite original but
powerful when reflected upon: "Fear is
False Evidence Appearing Real."
This statement is true in various ways, but I would like to go deeper on the subject of
fear because I believe that it can show up in your life in various different forms. In a lot
of the
books that I have read on success, there is not a single one that does not touch on or talk
about this topic specifically. Before you continue to read this post I would suggest that you
grab a journal or a notepad and you write down:
- What is Fear?
- How do I deal with Fear?
It may require you to set aside some time for thinking about these questions, and there is
no particular answer that I want you to gather from this exercise. I would like for you to
answer the questions above with an honest and personal perspective. The reason I
recommend this is because it will not only drive some of you to a greater understanding
of your limiting beliefs but when you can get it out of your head and onto a sheet of paper,
you can silence and observe objectively what certain emotions may have to offer you.
Ideally, when you set aside time to write down and reflect on things, you should go to a
quiet place and disconnect from every distraction, allowing the silence to share its secrets.
"Before we can master an enemy, we must know its name, its habits, and its place of abode."
- Napoleon Hill, Think and Grow Rich
Fear comes disguised in many different forms. To be human is to feel and experience fear,
and in one way or another you have encountered such emotions. The problem with
mankind is that we have allowed our minds to run on autopilot for the vast majority of
our existence, and we have become conditioned to survive instead of to overcome.
The two objectives, although they sound of similar intentions, will lead you to very
different outcomes. We move toward something with a belief that in some way,
we may experience a sense of joy, fulfillment, or pleasure. The other tendency we have
in common is to move away from or avoid any particular scenario that may cause pain.
While in some instances, this instinctual behavior has many times saved us from a negative
outcome, it has also crippled us in the sense that we are allowing our minds to make a
decision for us based on invalid and insufficient information about our past events,
circumstances, rejections, and failures.
Why is this a problem?
We know that research has now shown that 50% of our life experience has been greatly
fabricated through the stories we tell ourselves. When we allow our minds to identify
with an opportunity that could be accompanied by pain and discomfort, we begin to
talk ourselves out of taking action because ‘this scenario feels familiar, in fact, this is
very similar to something I experienced in the past which means I could get hurt here.’
This is the exact thinking pattern your brain resorts to when you don’t observe objectively
what you are facing.
Now, if we refer back to the idea that you fabricate a lot of the things you have experienced
in the past, then is it not wise to ask yourself whether or not your feelings about
something hold any truth to begin with?
"Fear is False Evidence Appearing Real."
Deception is a tactic that fear leverages in order that you become distracted from
the reality of your potential. Fear is a liar, and the moment you begin to identify
with a lie, you begin to believe and embody all the emotions that have been
anchored in your subconscious mind under a file titled "limiting beliefs."
There is a connection to all things both good and bad in your life. To master
your mindset, to put work into understanding WHY you feel your emotions
and what they have to teach you is a process that will never be perfected.
Instead of settling for perfectionism, which fear also uses as a tactic to defile
you, aspire to make progress at all times. When you understand emotional messages
, you can articulate and then translate what appears as something painful, into a call to
action or a deliberate plan to navigate your life in a way that serves you.
What if I told you that the thing you fear most is more afraid of you? The object,
circumstance, person or feeling of anxiety, worry, defeat, doubt (double-mindedness,
indecision); none of them could ever destroy you, not unless you allow them to control
you.
Fear in any form comes with a compromising tactic, and if it cannot destroy you then it
will do its very best to distract you.
There are 365 days in a year. In the Bible, one of the greatest books on life guidance
and personal development in my opinion, "fear not" is written 365 times.
I would suggest that whether you are religious or not, there is intentionality the authors
of this book had behind such wisdom.
What if I told you that the invasive and misleading agenda of fear has nothing against
the abilities that you have been gifted with? Some of you have believed for too long
the lie that you are not enough or that you do not have what it takes. Challenge every
opposition that you may face in your life by getting certain, and of utmost importance,
aware of what you can control. In your debilitating states of anxiousness and worry,
you tend to look at the circumstances and people that you have absolutely no control
over.
Remember that if fear can’t destroy you, and its tactic is many times to distract you,
where you fix your focus will always determine what you move toward. If you look
at your fears, you will miss the opportunity and the message that stands close by.
Your affirmations are important. They will serve as your armor when fear makes an
attempt to stand between you and the very thing that propels you into the version of
your life where you become of service to your loved ones, a voice of reason in a world
that is suffering, a success story that shifts the narrative of what it takes to amount to
something of great impact. We all have one thing in common, a purpose. For those
of you that feel as if you have not quite found what that is, I am telling you that should
you stand in opposition to thoughts of inadequacy, you will surely find purpose.
Pain is relevant and it is unavoidable. If you allow your mentality to steer you away
from every process accompanied by pain, it will find you and it will continue to
you feel small. Put on your armor every single morning with immense intentionality,
recite your "I AM’" statements with confidence and faith that in this process you are building the muscles that matter. For every negative word that was said in relation to you or about you, acknowledge that and fight back with an empowering new identity.
The unfortunate thing about the obscurity that the media pours into our lives via platforms you feel obligated to showcase on; is that you begin to believe that if you can clean up the exterior part of your life (the part that everyone is viewing through filtered pictures) and make it look nice and neat, then, in turn, you will be seen or recognized by a world that will never make you feel adequate.
In today’s society, we have escalated violence, suicide rates have skyrocketed, and both men and women are spending hundreds if not thousands of dollars trying to change something about themselves on the outside when the problem is rooted on the inside.
You can’t buy work ethic. You can not purchase integrity. You will never have enough money to purchase peace when you lay your head down, and I will be the first to tell you that if you don’t have peace of mind, then you don’t have real security.
Which lies have you bought in order to feel good for a short period of time? Which picture of yourself did you post in an attempt to impress fake followers? When was the last time you acted in correspondence with who you are as a person instead of a ‘public figure’ on Instagram?
I don’t want to hurt you, but many of you need to wake up and deal with problems you won’t face. You need to purchase a new perspective before you purchase a Lamborghini. You need to purchase books of value that bring you into alignment with who you are, which has always been more than enough.
I don’t know about you, but I want children one day. If my children grow up believing that the accumulation of monetary resources and the view count or likes on a photo determine their self-worth, then I have failed in everything that I stand for.
Do not let discounted opinions determine the price you pay to experience a sense of worth. Fear sells, and its tactic is to make you believe that you are not enough as you are. While it may be true that you don’t live the lifestyle you post about, and while it may be true that you are not exactly where you want to be at this very moment; I PROMISE you that it is also true that you are more than a conqueror and you have more than enough inside of you to change what is happening on the outside.
You can’t change your world from the outside, but you can and you will change your world when you tackle it from the inside. Use your mind, use your emotions, and do not allow fear to be a distraction. Do not allow self-doubt to sell you a superficial disguise.
Tell yourself every single morning you wake up with air in your lungs that you are enough, and you have enough. Gratitude is the signature emotion you will need to have in receiving abundance. When you say "thank you", you have likely received something in one form or another.
Before you begin your day and allow the world to dictate your worth, decide that you will start in a place of gratitude. Anxiety is normally fueled by a feeling of unpreparedness. Prepare yourself for opportunities by being grateful. Declare your "I AM" statements boldly before you pick up your phone and mindlessly scroll through the nonsense. Your former story holds no significance to tomorrow, and some of you need to decide right now that this self-fulfilling mindset of inadequacy serves you no purpose. The next time you face fear, you acknowledge it and you move through it with confidence. This is how you get results; resistance to the tactics of fear produces endurance.
I believe in you! Do you believe in yourself?
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