Episode Summary:
In this episode, we explore the topic of fear and how it often holds us back from pursuing our goals and achieving personal growth. We discuss the reasons why people are afraid to step out of their comfort zones and provide strategies on how to reframe fear and use it to our advantage. By sharing personal experiences and insights, we aim to inspire listeners to confront their fears, break through limiting beliefs, and take action towards their goals and purpose.
Topics Discussed In This Episode:
- The role of fear in personal growth [01:42]
- The origins of fear and limiting beliefs [04:28]
- Stepping out of the comfort zone and expanding boundaries [07:56]
- The importance of taking risks and betting on oneself [11:45]
- Overcoming fear through curiosity and critical evaluation [14:18]
- Moving from fear to confidence through action [18:04]
- Finding purpose and how it relates to overcoming fear [21:12]
- Choosing regrets: living with the pain of not trying [24:20]
- Recognizing the insignificance of external judgment [26:34]
- The power of taking action and breaking through fear [29:02]
Resources Mentioned In This Episode:
- No external resources mentioned
[Note: Timestamps are approximate and may vary slightly in the actual episode.]
Episode Transcript:
Most people spend their whole life trying to avoid taking risks. They worry about what might happen if they make a mistake. What will people say or think about me? What if I lose money? What if I fail? Well, there’s no guarantee that you’re going to succeed in anything that you do. But the only people who never fail are those that never try, but those that never try never achieve anything either.
And the number one reason why people don’t try to pursue their potential or pursue their goals is because they are afraid. Feeling afraid is an indicator that you’re stepping out of your comfort zone or at least considering it, and that is always a good thing. So I wanna help you try and reframe the feelings of fear and give you some strategies on how you can use it to your advantage.
Because it’s not like people who achieve big things don’t feel fear. They definitely do, but they still take actions that they need to because they know that stepping out of your comfort zone is the only way that you can grow. We all experience fear in some form or another. It is a totally natural process or instinct designed to keep us safe.
The problem is that most fears around personal growth and business come from perceived risk and are driven by emotions. Most of them aren’t based on reality. And even if they were, the absolute worst outcome isn’t even that bad. But that’s human nature and generally this instinct combined with our personal experiences of pain, failure, or ridicule throughout our life, even if it was minor build up.
And then when we face a situation that has the potential to result in that same pain or a similar pain. It activates these old feelings and then directs us to avoid them. But regardless of where the fear is coming from, we are intuitively wired to seek safety and avoid pain. So as a result, we naturally build up these walls made of all of the things that we fear most, and this becomes our comfort zone.
But because you avoid going out, Side of these walls of your comfort zone, and because you have no idea what is beyond them, this becomes your boundary of awareness or your personal limit. These are your personal limiting beliefs. It is not a real limit, it is just a belief. It is a thought. This is the unknown.
So we perceive it to be dangerous, risky, and we feel like for sure something bad is going to happen if we go beyond these limits. But I know personally, every single time I’ve stepped out of that comfort zone broken through my limiting beliefs, that perceived risk was just that. It was perceived, it was not real.
And what also happens is that you extend those boundaries and stretch your awareness and you realize that where you were before didn’t have the limits that you thought were there then, and neither does where you are right now. I also see this process of expanding or stretching as we step out of the comfort zone, as every time you move beyond one point or stage.
That boundary actually becomes easier to cross every single time because you become familiar with that feeling of uncertainty. You can really visualize the process of having a goal, feeling of fear, doing the thing, and then seeing that it wasn’t that bad or that the result was actually positive and then, Having that process become more familiar as you start to rewire what it means to be afraid of something from being a negative to something that is just part of the process of getting to the next level.
If you are someone who is just starting, say a business, it can be harder to take those first steps or leaps forward because you are still seeing fear in that negative light. But that is when it is the most important time to do so. That’s because that’s when most people get stuck. They never end up pursuing what they really want because they are too afraid to really push through those walls of their comfort zone that they’ve built up so hard and tight and comfy.
Everything outside of that just seems like way too overwhelming or just not a possibility for them. Before I started my business, I had put so many limiting beliefs on myself and just limitations on myself in general. But being able to confront what I was most afraid of has been such a huge source of power for me, and it’s not to say that.
I never get afraid of anything anymore. I definitely do. There’s heaps of things that I’m still afraid of and fears that I want to work through for my business professionally and personally. But instead of giving into these fears just because they’re there and thinking that if I am afraid of something, then that means that I shouldn’t do it.
I try and approach it with a lot more curiosity and really ask. Is this real or am I projecting a possible negative outcome right now? And being able to differentiate between those real potential outcomes and the projected negative outcomes and critically evaluating the likelihood and impact of those negative outcomes, I can gain a more balanced perspective on the potential risks and move forward with more confidence.
So my question for you, if you are facing something that you are too afraid to take action on right now, is that can you live with the regrets of not trying? So can you live with the certainty of staying where you are right now if you don’t make that change? Or are you willing to bet on yourself and take that risk?
Take the chance that yes, you may fail or be judged or make a mistake, but you also may succeed too. We are so wired to project these negative outcomes that we forget that taking a chance and taking a risk and taking action. Actually gives us a thousand or infinity times chance of succeeding compared to not trying at all.
Can you live with the pain of regret of not trying? That’s my question to you. Because they say that some of the biggest regrets that people have at the end of their lives is that they didn’t have the courage to live a life true to themselves, not the life that others expected of them. So if you’re afraid to do something because you’re worried about what others may think of, you, just remember that because that really is the reality of the situation.
Your life will pass regardless of what you do, whether you pursue your goals or not. And if you don’t, you will be the one that suffers for it and the world will keep spinning and you will get older. It’s just a choice that you need to make as a as to whether you can live with that pain of regret.
Ultimately, it’s the risk of doing nothing that poses the greatest danger, which is stagnation, regret, and the realization that we let opportunities slip through our fingers. And just to lay out two hard truths for you. No one actually cares as much as you think they do in terms of how they’re judging you.
So if judgment of others is something you are concerned of, everyone is so worried about themselves and the things that they have going on in their lives that it’s almost overly self-indulgent to think that everyone would be so worried or concerned about what you are doing. And the second hard truth is that we’re going to die anyway.
No one will remember anything that we do in our lifetimes, more than likely. So why not just try and pursue the best life that you can live right now by going for your goals and not letting these limiting beliefs in your comfort zone hold you back. While all of these strategies do definitely help to overcome fear, I understand it can be hard when it’s something that is so deeply seated within us and we don’t really understand it that well.
But by definition, the opposite of fear is confidence. So while we recognize that fear is normal, the goal is to move away from fear and towards confidence or through fear. Towards confidence, I would say. And the only way that you can do this is through taking action. Fear and confidence both work in cycles.
So at the top of the fear cycle is fear itself. It starts with that feeling of fear, which stops us from taking action, which then leads us to having a lack of experience. And because we don’t have that experience, we then lack confidence. But then on the flip side, the competence cycle starts with taking action.
So we have an action that we take, even if we’re afraid. Even if we feel scared and worried and that it’s a risk, we then have an experience from that action. We learn a lesson or build a skill, and because we have that lesson or the skill from the experience, we then have confidence. Your actions are what you do have control over your feelings and thoughts.
You do have some control over as well, but. You can break that fear cycle and move into confidence just by taking action. But you may be wondering how does this all relate back to purpose? Like this is the Purpose-Driven Business podcast, right? Well, it definitely does relate to finding your purpose, and this is why when you have your purpose, And you are clear on your vision and mission.
In life and in work, all of your fears tend to be less potent. That’s because you’re kind of no longer serving yourself. Your mission and your purpose is something greater than yourself. It’s to serve others or to make a positive impact on the world in some way. It provides meaning, motivation, and this sense of direction that becomes so much more of a focus than anything else external that’s going on.
So if you’re still not able to move forward with your goals, try and find how it. Helps you pursue your purpose and greater meaning in life. Figuring out why you are here is literally the greatest gift in life, in my opinion. And when you find what that North Star is in your life and your business, and you are working towards that, And you’re enjoying the process and you’re professionally and personally fulfilled in your work and in your lifestyle and everything that you’re doing, you kind of don’t worry about the other stuff as much.
So while fear is definitely a real thing that we need to overcome, men, it’s something that everyone is going to face at every single stage of their journey. But being clear and focused on what it is that you are actually trying to achieve and what the mission is that you are on and your why makes everything a lot easier.
To summarize this podcast episode, I don’t want you to be someone that lives their life in fear that doesn’t pursue what they want, and then at the end of their life has regrets. I’m no life coach at all, but my biggest advice on this topic is to firstly, find your purpose, find a greater meaning to your life, and work beyond anything selfish or menial.
You’ll be so distracted with the mission you’re on, that you’ll breeze through fear a lot easier. Identify where your fears are coming from. Did you try and fail at something before? Were you ridiculed or made to believe that life should be lived in your comfort zone? The past doesn’t determine the future.
So if you did fail at something before, learn the lesson, but don’t let it stop you. And just because someone said that something wasn’t possible doesn’t mean you have to adopt their mindset or limitations as your own because you are your own person. Remember to look at it objectively. Is it a real or perceived risk that you are facing right now?
Get really honest with yourself and try and put the emotions aside. Because more often than not, what your brain is telling you is an absolute certainty. If you do the thing you’ve been wanting to do is actually super unlikely and also not that bad. Choose your regrets. Are you willing to live with the absolute certainty that you will not achieve your goals if you don’t try?
Or are you willing to break through fear to give it a shot? With the possibility of failure, but also the possibility of success. Remind yourself that at the end of it all your issues and worries are so insignificant and small in the grand scheme of things, that to think that anyone else is going to notice or care if you do or don’t do what you want is a mistake.
And lastly, take action. Feel the fear, but have the courage to do it anyway. I hope you’ve enjoyed this episode all about overcoming fear and me sharing my perspective on what fear is and how you can overcome it. I really hope that you can approach fear with more curiosity and mindfulness. The next time you face something, that fear is holding you back on because it really is amazing what happens when you do step out of your comfort zone and you break through those limiting beliefs that you have on yourself.
