It’s not low-self-esteem that sabotages your relationships, or your blind-to-your-contributions boss that subverts your career dreams. What gets in your way to achieving your dreams is fear; your inner critic that works 24/7 just to remind you that you’re not good enough, slim enough and smart enough.
Why you need to be fearless
By being fearless you let yourself get out of your comfort zone. A fearless person doesn’t feel intimidated by the prospect of failure. Mistakes are welcomed because they show how to do things differently and more effectively in the next attempt.
You learn and you succeed by making mistakes. Success is not the end result, it’s an ongoing process of trial and error. Fear doesn’t let you try, fear keeps you back.
How to become fearless
– Understand that mistakes are part of the success process. Only a few people succeed error-free. The rest of us, fail failure after failure but eventually get there.
Be patient and embrace mistakes. Don’t let others’ feedback bring you down, use it as a reference point on how to improve your approach next time.
– Learn to distinguish between something scary (living in Beijing because of a new job offer) and something dangerous and harmful (alcohol abuse).
When you can tell apart the one from the other, you will be able to make mature choices despite your fears. This manner, success will be closer to being conquered.
– If you’re thinking how you should’ve already been married with kids, have visited at least 10 countries and became a New York time best-selling writer, try to understand and value your efforts, rather than being hard on you.
Engage with people and the circumstances that will allow you to overcome your fear of not being exactly where you thought you should be.
Goals and fear are energizing forces that allow us to get out of bed each morning. However, when fear is left unleashed, it can incapacitate us. Learn to tame your fear and mute that inner critic. Most importantly, don’t fear to take risks, success only comes to those who dare!