When faced with a challenge or frightening situation, I remind myself that it takes courage to step up to fear “face-to-face” in order to embrace it. That courage is what produces the confidence inside of me to accomplish any task at hand. I didn’t always approach fear like this. At one time, I saw fear as a negative and shied away from it.
Now that I understand the power fear holds, I embrace it boldly and have benefitted greatly in doing so. When the game is on the line with the clock ticking down and my team is losing, it is easy to feel the pressure and let the fear conquer me.
However, that is when I flip the script in those situations. Instead of trying to overcome the pressure of having a huge comeback, I put the pressure on the defense to stop us. Once I embrace that fear and pressure, my opponents are the ones who fear my team and me. Then, amazing comebacks seem to happen almost effortlessly, because the battle within our minds has already been won.
“Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear.” -Ambrose Redmoon
Have you ever opened up to wisdom greater than your own? At Extreme Focus, we use something called “The Process” to help us unlock answers from within our own consciousness. This 5-step unique visualization process helps clear the mind of any clutter and provides clarity and strength. In the final step of this process, we are simply to put pen to paper and, without judgment, write freely what comes to mind in that moment.
I am always surprised at what great insights come out of these inspired writings. Sometimes, I don’t even know what I have written until after I’m finished and I actually go back and read it. From time to time, I go back and re-read these inspired thoughts, and the writing I’m about to share is an example of one of those moments:
“Fear is a good thing. It is healthy. Panic, stress, and worry is not – it only distracts you from achieving what you are meant to achieve. When pursuing greatness, there will always be fear, if it is something truly worth pursuing. Use that fear to take you to greater heights than you knew was possible. Everyone has that fear, but most people don’t reach their dreams and ambitions because of the panic that creates doubt inside and inhibits your ability to use fear as a strength. Fear now becomes a hindrance to you and brings you down. Fear is like a wild animal – a bloodthirsty carnivore that is always hungry to devour flesh. If you are to panic and let stress take over, this beast will surely devour you without hesitation. But if you recognize this fear and understand its true strength and harness its energy, you can use this beast, as a strength that works for you and with you creating a much stronger ‘you’ than you would’ve been without this fear. Take the fear by the horns and ride on its back and you will be stronger than you imagined possible. Feel the fear, embrace the fear, use the fear… Be A Beast.”
In any situation, see fear as an opportunity to grow and allow something greater within you to take over. Anything worth accomplishing in life is going to present “fearful” challenges to overcome. Embrace that fear and step boldly into that challenge with courage and confidence.
Enjoy the battle!
Shane Austin
Certified Extreme Focus Coach
Facebook.com/qbshaneaustin10, Twitter/Instagram: @shaneaustin10, qbshaneaustin.com
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