FEAR: False Expectations Appearing Real

F.E.A.R.

False Expectations Appearing Real…

I was reading a new post on Jason Moffatt’s blog today about the dangers of operating from a scarcity mindset.

It got me thinking a little about the underlying reasons WHY people cling to the safety of scarcity and hide from the freedom of success.

It brings to mind something Tony Robbins discussed years ago. What he described was the similarity in the physiology of two polar opposite emotions: Fear and Excitement.

The only difference between fear and excitement is a different expected outcome – one negative and one positive.

Think about it… Let’s say you are afraid of public speaking and you’re about to go in front of your entire company to give a presentation. Your palms and forehead are sweaty. You imagine walking up the mic and “SQWEEEAL” the thing feeds back… You picture yourself fumbling and bumbling your way through and looking like a complete idiot to everyone…

Now, imagine you’re the guy who LOVES being onstage and has been anxiously awaiting your “time to shine”. You’ve got all of your materials ready. You’re pacing in the hallway like a big game cat. You literally cannot wait to get out there and kick ass…

With an negative expectation, the presentation is a thing of dread and terror. With a positive expectation, the presentation is a golden opportunity. Your body reacts the same way in either case, elevated heart rate, adrenal glands kick in… It’s just a matter of which way you perceive the experience that shapes the outcome.

It’s also very easy to fall into the trap of “Perfection Paralysis”, which is the art of being so good at something, that you never get anything “done”.

A good friend and amazing Jazz artist, Doug Robinson, once said: 

‘Holding off till all your limitations are conquered is a fool’s game — it just leads to doing nothing, because there will always be something else you COULD have done better…’

To me, the most effective way to battle FEAR is to truly give yourself permission to try and to fail… Short-circuit the negative self-talk from the get-go and you’ll move out of FEAR into EXCITEMENT. And once you do, you start to see things in terms of opportunities instead of problems…

Once THAT happens, there’s no telling what you can do. It’s all one big adventure!

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