Fears are nothing more than a state of mind. Napoleon Hill
Many of you reading this know that I have been on a journey for the last couple of months to prepare for a TEDx talk on October 14th on Unleashing the Power of Fear. You have been an extraordinary support and it is much appreciated.
It has been an extraordinary journey to create a 15-minute talk with literally 100 hours of dedicated focus and discipline to bring this to the stage.
What you may not know is how I got to this point in my career.
It was March 11, 2008.
I was living in New York City and had just returned from walking the dog and picked up the New York Times.
The headline was the Bear Stearns collapse, and in due course, the beginning of the end for Lehman Brothers and all that followed.
We were caught in the crosshairs. Investments lost. Future upended. Privileged life gone.
Our entire portfolio was in the hands of someone we trusted, and the financial collapse wiped us out because we were not paying attention.
At the time, I had completed my first book, finished five years performing as a cantor for synagogues in Paris and Amsterdam during the Jewish High Holidays, and earned a black belt in karate at age 49. I had lived on three continents, raised a family and was living la dolce vita.
Life was carefree...and now we were broke.
After the initial shock, anger and WTF, my husband and I needed to figure out what the rest of our life was going to be without the financial cushion we thought we had.
A friend said I should train and become a coach. My life experience was significant and could be useful.
I had nothing to lose and no idea that this would be the greatest turning point in my life.
It would take me on a journey I never could have predicted, and would become the basis for my next books The Fearless Factor and The Fearless Factor at Work.
Although the financial crisis of 2008 was overwhelming it drove me to explore and examine why fear had such a grip on me for the majority of my life.
I discovered that if I was willing to deal with the uncertainty, the self-limitations and self-sabotaging behaviors, I had the power to change.
I began to understand that fear, when examined, is a driver for growth because it allows us to remove the barriers that keep us from living up to our potential.
Today, I know for certain that being fearless is not the absence of fear, but the courage to take the next step, and the next, until you are no longer afraid of what is in front of you.
This is the challenge we all face and the journey we must take if we are to be more than we think we can be. If we want to be the best version of the self we imagine.
- You must be willing to take an honest look at your strengths, your weaknesses, and your blindspots.
- Be willing to challenge yourself to dig deeper, ask the hard questions, and reframe your relationship to uncertainty.
- Be willing to change what's not working for you, and discover how you can be much more than you think you can be.
- Be willing to take a chance, take more risks, and live your life with full understanding of who you are and what you are capable of being.
It worked for me, and I can assure you, it will work for you.
When we use fear as the driver for growth we face the uncertainty with courage, examine the stories you tell yourself, remove the self-imposed barriers that keep you from playing full out, and look for the opportunities that are waiting for you to show up.
My TEDx talk is another milestone in a life filled with them, and I am meeting the challenge with confidence and a strong belief that this (according to TED) is an idea worth sharing.
I'm committing all my attention in the next two weeks to making this an experience that not only elevates my life, but will inspire, educate, entertain and motivate many others to do the same.
So...Be Fearless: See Where It Gets You!
I look forward to sharing it with you when the video is available.
Related: The Paradox of Change and Why It Takes Courage To Break Free of Stagnation