If I had a dollar
If I had a dollar for every time someone said to me “I can’t believe you could do that”, I’d be standing on a pile of money.
I can’t believe you can stand in front of an audience and not get nervous, I can’t believe you can feel that comfortable about cold calling business, I can’t believe you can ride that zip line, I can’t believe can walk into that room full of executives and not be intimidated, I can’t believe you can return to study at your age, I can’t believe you can travel overseas by yourself…and on it goes. What I’ve found most interesting about these comments is that to me, none of these actions are really a big deal. Nor are they for some others either I know, but after hearing comments like this enough times, I have realised that acting without fear isn’t easy for a lot of people.
After consideration, I realised that the confidence I have to take on activities that many people find frightening, has been developed and nurtured. And anyone can do the same. I realised rather than talking myself out of doing something and finding reasons, why not, why I can’t, I now automatically start to think how can I…what do I need to do to make that work? Now, fortunately most things come easy, but it has taken work to get to a place where I feel confident in just about any situation.
When Franklin D Roosevelt famously quipped “We have nothing to fear but fear itself”, he was on the money.
What enables a person act without fear in a situation? I believe there are three behaviours that must become intrinsic to shift a mindset from fearful to confident.
Number One: Take a Risk
Next time you have an opportunity to do something that scares you, just say yes instead of over thinking reasons why you can’t. Evoke Neales Donald Walsh quote “Life begins at the end of your comfort zone” to inspire you to take risks to delight in all life offers.
Number Two: Learn a Skill
Continually learning new skills means you open yourself to new ideas. Every time you do something you haven’t done before, you allow yourself to expand your experience and shift your perspective. Consider what new activity/skill you have always wanted to accomplish and begin.
Three: Become Proficient
It makes sense doesn’t it? If you can do something well, you will be confident doing it. If you want to have the confidence to speak from stage then you need to not only obtain the skills, you also have to practice, practice and practice some more. To speak well and with confidence on a subject you need to be well rehearsed. Every time you stand in front of an audience you will be less nervous until you will eventually feel confident to enough you can address any problem that might arise. The same goes for any fear you want to overcome.
When you live without fear, your stress levels are reduced all the “good hormones” work effectively in your body and can cope with real problems more effectively.
Principal Trainer and Director of Shifting Visions, Janeen Vosper, typically works with Sales Teams, Small Business Owners and Entrepreneurs to overcome their fear of selling and cure cold calling reluctance. She assists people to identify and crush hidden fears that block their potential as presenters to learn how to make speeches with ease and confidence…and also offers easy techniques to conquer Fear of Failure that affects many components of life. You can view Janeen's profile here => http://bit.ly/16p0UH9
