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Everyone has experienced some degree of fear in their life. Life would not be life if there were nothing to overcome or get through. Life would in fact be boring if we merely existed and nothing challenged us or pushed us to get out of our comfort zone. It is through the uncomfortable that growth happens.
Addressing Your Fears
When we address fear, we are addressing those limiting beliefs which paralyze us too often. Fear is a natural reaction to something wanting us to move from our comfort zone. Certainly, some fear is unhealthy fear (or is it?). Assuredly, some fear is brought upon knowingly (like getting on that roller coaster).
What is fear? We each have our favorite acronym for FEAR. Here are two of the most common ones out there:
Face Everything And Rise
Forget Everything And Run
One presents us with the ability to accept what is happening and move through it, and the other one is backing up and moving away from it.
Becoming fearless is about making conscious decisions in the moment to attack fear head on, no matter the fear. The newest acronym of fear I like is…
Failing (to) Engage, Act, (or) Respond
Before we address how to be fearless let’s first break down why we run from fear. When circumstances present themselves to us that create fear, our natural inclination is to run. Why?
Safety – Security – Stability.
These three words are at the heart of every women’s core. Safety creates an atmosphere to feel secure and when we feel secure there is a stability to our demeanor. When one of those core positions are threatened (no matter who, what, where, when, why, or how) fear will immediately come forward to make a barrier so that what is lacking can be protected and/or restored. Our bodies are designed to maintain homeostasis.
When met with a circumstance or a scenario, that homeostasis becomes susceptible to puncture. Susceptibility thus fashions unwanted vulnerability, helplessness, or defenselessness. This can paralyze how we confront what is happening. We must then learn how to become fearless, to rise above. We accomplish this by …
Freely Engaging, Acting, (or) Responding
The same energy that causes us to run away is the same energy that it takes to rise above. This indicates why becoming fearless is so important.
We become when we do.
What a powerful and beautiful statement. “We become when we do” emphasizes that something happens to us (internally) when we encounter things that happen around us (externally).
What is the “do” that we should be doing?
The Doing Is The Hardest Part
That doing is either engaging, acting, or responding to whatever circumstance is upon us. Engaging it requires thought, and most often critical thought. Critical thought allows for dialogue to materialize. Creating dialogue produces knowledge. Knowledge springs forth wisdom to know how to take the next step, which is to act.
Acting upon a circumstance forces change. We are often gripped by fear by feeling trapped or stuck. Knowing that change is available to us moves us beyond those feelings because action demands change. Therefore, known change is a catalyst to producing a response.
Responding to fear is taking a positive approach rather than a negative one, and negativity often looks like reacting. Responding is maintaining control of what is going on even because we control our own words or actions.
Becoming Fearless
Becoming fearless is… A choice – rise or run. A decision – free or frozen. A possibility – engage or ignore. An ability – change or be changed. A compulsion – respond or react.
Becoming fearless is… climbing up the stairway of opportunity that leads to freedom.
International Educator, Speaker, Author, and Business Coach, Lori helps entrepreneurs and organizations focus on foundational tools needed for sustained success. As a Curriculum Designer and Business Professor, Lori has helped grow hundreds of organizations organically to build a true, long-lasting purpose. Lori has been featured on ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, & various regional markets. She has authored / co-authored several books and works globally to support literacy, cancer research, young entrepreneurship, and military programs. Helping raise over three million dollars for literacy, Lori was awarded the Lifetime Presidential Service Award for her work. For more info visit www.lorimcneil.com.
