deepstash
Beta
Don't Let Your Inner Fears Limit Your Career
Interrogate the fear
Critically assess your current fear to understand it better.
What would it mean if you fail at something? What if you took on a project that didn't play into your strengths? Other people make mistakes and move on. Are your fears unfounded?
139 SAVES
This is a professional note extracted from an online article.
Read more efficiently
Save what inspires you
Remember anything
IDEA EXTRACTED FROM:
6
Key Ideas
Fear is natural
Unrecognized or unacknowledged core fears are almost always a root cause of professional distress and unattained potential.
The fears are not necessarily bad. A willingness to take a hard look at your fears can help you turn them into fuel for performance.
Most common fears
- Fear of being wrong. People with this fear are extremely focused on rules, ethics, standards, and “right vs wrong.”
- Fear of not being good enough. Those with this fear tend to be insecure, intensely focused on their image, and desperate to prove their worth.
- Fear of missing out. This drives leaders to constantly seek new opportunities and experiences and to pursue multiple interests at once.
- Fear of being victimized or taken advantage of. Those suffering from this fear feel the need to win every battle and can be defensive and controlling.
Admit your fear
In the first phase, take a close look at your history. Examine the choices you've made and the reasons behind those choices.
For instance, not putting effort into pursuing your own interests but instead, activities in which you can excel could point to the fear of not being good enough.
Interrogate the fear
Critically assess your current fear to understand it better.
What would it mean if you fail at something? What if you took on a project that didn't play into your strengths? Other people make mistakes and move on. Are your fears unfounded?
A different course of action
Decide what you will do next and make commitments.
- If I objectively evaluate my actions and behavior right now, what would the evidence say that I’m committed to?
- How does this differ from what I say I want?
- Practically speaking, if my desires and actions are not fully aligned, what does that indicate?
Act on that choice
Deliver on your commitments.
For instance, take on projects that will challenge you from a place of uncertainty. Or find out what you really like, rather than choosing things other people admire.
SIMILAR ARTICLES & IDEAS:
5
Key Ideas
Fear Is Real
Fear is everywhere and yet fear can be overcome, controlled and can even be a power for good.
Accept your fear relative to you.
Get Some Perspective
- Are you really at risk?
- Will this kill you?
- If the worse was to happen what would it be?
Could that really happen?
- If the worse did happen, how would you recover?
- If the worse were to happen, what would you need to do next?
By seeing fear as not the end destination but part of being human, you can see through its wily evil ways and move forward.
Hold a Hand
Think of someone you can always rely on, be it your friend, partner, colleague, parent, sibling and say: “Right I need to deal with this, and I’m going to need you to help me.”
They, in turn, will feel valued, loved and respected.
2 more ideas
6
Key Ideas
Our Most Common fears
- Fear of failure, poverty, and loss of money
- Fear of losing love
- Fear of losing our jobs and our financial security
- Fear of embarrassment or ridicule
- Fear ...
Fear Paralyzes Action
The most common reaction in a fear situation is the attitude of, “I can’t!”
This is the fear of failure that stops us from taking action. It often shuts down the brain and causes us to revert to the “fight-or-flight” reaction.
Visualize Yourself as Unafraid
Your self-image, the way you see yourself and think about yourself, is eventually altered by feeding your mind these positive mental pictures of yourself performing at your best.
So visualize yourself performing with confidence and competence in an area where you are fearful.
3 more ideas
3
Key Ideas
Language as a tool
The struggle
Some people have a fear of being wrong. They measure success by how few mistakes they make.
Some people know what the language should sound like, where they are at currently, and how far they have to go to get there.
Where to put your focus
Speaking a language is not like those exams that many of us had to take in grade school, where a tiny grammar mistake would lose you marks.
In the real world, small errors don't matter. What matters is to make yourself understood.
Don't focus on yourself or on your own mistakes. Focus on the other person you're talking to and the result you want to get.