Every time I call one of my coaching buddies, friends,
or colleagues to tell them about a new product or service I'm creating,
they laugh.
No, they're not laughing
at
me; they're laughing at how easily I seem to make great leaps forward
with my business. They marvel at how I continually innovate how I
combine horses, coaching, and the Brilliance Unbridled™ way
of running a business all together, into new, exciting programs and
products.
I laugh right back, telling them, "If you only
knew how many ideas I have that I
don't
pursue, you would be
really impressed!"
The point is, I'm never standing still, even when
what I want to do is scary. Okay, even when the thought of flopping
strikes a moment of sheer terror in my belly, like the lightening
that cracks open our desert sky during a thunderstorm.
Yet I see hundreds of entrepreneurs freeze with
self-doubt and a hefty case of the "what if's" that sound
like this: "
What if I fail?" "
What if
it doesn't work out?" "
What if no one wants it?"
And the one that really gets me scratching my head, "
What
if I get too busy?"
Now, I'm not a big fan of the "feel the fear
and do it anyway" school of thinking. With horses, that is fool-hearty
and at times, downright dangerous.
So, how do you break new ground even when
you're afraid? How do you move forward toward a big goal
or dream when the thought of what you'll need to do is overwhelming?
Here are 3 quick, simple tips to
get your brain working
FOR what you want to accomplish,
not against it. I recommend reading them with a specific Bold Goal
or big project in mind. Ready? Here we go!
Tip #1 Separate What's Causing Apprehension From
What Isn't
All it takes is focusing on one aspect of a Bold Goal that causes
you to gulp, and before you know it, the whole thing seems impossible.
The reality is, when you sort through and separate out the "okay"
parts from the "gee, I don't know about this" parts, you
eliminate a whole wad of confusion.
Try this: Make a 2-column list. Label the left-hand
side "What I CAN comfortably do" and the right-hand side,
"Everything else." Now fill in the columns with every task
related to your Bold Goal or big project. By sorting out what's comfortable
from what isn't, you give yourself some breathing room to realize
there is actually a lot you can do, and what areas need to be handled
a little differently.
Tip #2 Keep Moving Closer
Feeling fear or apprehension can keep you from taking any action.
The key is to trick your brain into focusing on making small, incremental
progress. Your progress along the way will give you confidence and
clarity.
Try this: Choose one specific
activity you can do each day that is just a tiny bit outside of your
comfort zone. Think of this as building a house, brick by brick. Before
long, the "bricks" (i.e., tasks) that used to be unsettling
now seem easy.
Tip #3 Do LOTS of What's Comfortable, and Just a
Bit of What Isn't
There's no point in over-facing yourself. All that does is create
more duress. What happens though, is that the idea of doing something
far outside your comfort zone often eclipses taking any action at
all. What's the remedy?
Try this: Focus on the tasks that
are comfortable for you to do, then do them OFTEN and A LOT. Sprinkle
in just a bit of what feels like a stretch. This way, you're creating
momentum and the one task that seemed like too big of a leap is suddenly
brought down to a manageable size.
In the end, for me, letting fear keep me from making
a big leap forward isn't an option. Sure, those moments of sheer terror
will probably continue to strike. But their impact, though momentarily
fierce, is also fleeting because my focus is squarely where I want
it to be: paying attention to my dream, and making progress towards
it daily.
