We live in an age where our lives are often punctuated by disasters, through moments when what we were certain we knew of our lives, of our relationships, meets a threatening truth. We’re captivated by a state of unnecessary whining, in which absolutely everyone takes a small portion of you. You then develop the whole view of who you are. The imposed fear eviscerating your authenticity, your drive to remain genuine to yourself, keeps numerous people caught in a rut every day, too fearful of their negative thinking to take a leap of faith.
It is tough to unlearn negative thinking and it is even tougher to prevent yourself from being hypnotized by this steady self-defeatist monologue.
Looking back at my choices, there were many moments of pain, unhappiness, and failure, however, I rewrote the script and did not permit myself to focus on lost or like a depressed victim of circumstances. The important thing to leveraging my fears is having reached the conclusion that I can’t walk down the road of life holding hands with ease and expecting growth simultaneously. In those moments of self-doubt, you most certainly need to embrace the challenges and broaden your own compass and trust it. The essential first step to getting what you need out of life is this: determine what you want. Take risks, invest in your mind, allow yourself to fail, dare to be alone and keep in mind that the first person through the wall usually receives pain. Go! Jim.
Spot on, Jim! We know from recent neuroscience research that we tend to place more emphasis on the negatives than the positives by design (i.e., to keep us on the alert for danger and keep us alive). But we can retrain the brain to look for the good stuff and reframe the negatives in search of growth and learning. Thank you for sharing this one!
“Allow yourself to fail!” Perfect, Jim. So much richness and ability to rewrite the script as you suggested. I look at my failures as the best teachings of living that I could ever ask for. Bring on the growth…
Thank you, Maureen. There is no success without failure – we just have talk about it on our Monday podcast. Trying again, more and differently is important!
I so appreciate your attitude, Jim! I will keep your podcast in mind for my future listening!
Inspiring article! Thanks for sharing. Step 1 – determine what you want. I can attest there is real power in understanding this. This requires self-reflection, which is painful, but necessary.
Thanks for the reminder!
Thank you, Joe. yes, reflection is a step one on many of our programs. It is important to understand and love yourself first
Great article and I agree 100% Life cannot give you courage. It has to come from within. It has to be something that you have faced in life and conquered. Fear is something you have to face often in life. It has many faces. It can be personal, business or the fury of nature. Regardless of what it is, life has given you the tools and the knowledge to face anything. It is up to you how you face your fears or rather embrace your courage. As my sister always told me, in life, be strong, be courageous and be a dragon slayer..
Thank you for your feedback and input, Larry. Be strong! We can see you are already, so keep it up!
You are so right, Jim! And although we humans are wired to avoid pain, most of us have learned that there’s no growth without at least some pain. And the rewards are usually worth it!
Thank you for your input, Susan. No pain, no gain – still working concept.