The High Cost of Fear: What is being afraid holding you back from?

When I was 6, I had an unfortunate pool accident.

The little Styrofoam bubble that i wore clipped to my back somehow came unbuckled and I was no longer immortally swimming in the deep end of my cousin’s pool. I was drowning.

It’s funny I don’t remember exactly how that situation resolved itself. Obviously I didn’t drown- but I don’t remember if someone pulled me out or if I swam to the edge. All I remember is the terrifying fear of falling into the deepest part of the pool knowing that at over 10 feet deep, this was a really bad thing.

Fast forward 30 years and although I am not afraid of the deep end anymore- because of that tiny little event, I never learned how to correctly swim, and so I am probably the oldest person who still holds my nose when I go under water. That traumatic event stopped my growth as a swimmer forever.

Now I am not insinuating I would have grown up to be the next Michael Phelps, not by a long shot, but I do sometimes wonder how different my swimming ability would be if that stupid bubble hadn’t fallen off, and how much less energy I would have wasted on being afraid.

The thing about fear is that it feels so natural. It becomes so ingrained in our mindset and our day to day thinking that we don’t think of it as a limitation at all, but more as a DANGER sign on a bottle of toxic chemicals. We immediately give it space to move into our brains and set up shop- because it tricks us into thinking it is protecting us.

Don’t try that experience! What if  you fail? 

Don’t be vulnerable! What if they laugh at you?

Don’t invest in that killer opportunity! What if you lose money? 

And while fear is probably pretty well meaning, it sure does prevent 99% of us from reaching for the opportunities our hearts truly desire.

Sad when you think of it that way, right?

Fear is like that grandmother who wets her mouth with a tissue before smearing lipstick all over your  face to “clean it.” It just wants what is best for you.

So the worst thing you can do then is to ignore it. If you try to ignore your fear it is just going to bang louder on the door, and this time it’s gonna bring a fog horn.

Remember that children’s song about going on a bear hunt?

Can’t go under it, can’t go around it… must go THROUGH it.

Until you look fear square in the face and say, “I appreciate you looking out for me, but I have got this.” it will keep right on haunting you.

Trust me. I speak from experience.

So here is the good news.

I created this nifty little course to help you give Fear it’s walking papers. Click here  to sign up.

It’s a week long immersion into the world of fear so you can see what it’s all about and say adios once and for all. The best part is it’s self guided, so you can take it when you can fit it in, no sense being afraid of falling behind! (see what I did there?)

It’s $49 and at the end of the week you are going to have a much better handle on the things that are holding you back from being even more awesome than you already are….(yes it’s possible!)

For more tantalizing stories of my childhood and mindset tricks like these- head to my  Facebook community Unstoppable  where we talk about this stuff every single day!