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Fear and Trembling?

Guest post by: Peter Pamela Rose

Article Overview: The weight of the choices we’re sometimes faced with seems more than we can bear. The difficulty, the dread, comes from the thought that we cannot do something. The liberation is in finding out we can do more than we thought.

Fear and Trembling?

"You must do the things you think you cannot do." - Eleanor Roosevelt Fear and Trembling was a book written by Soren Kierkegaard under the pen name Johannes de Silentio addressing the story of Abraham and his son, Isaac in the Old Testament. Talk about doing the things you cannot do! Abraham was asked by God to sacrifice his son in order to prove his faith, his commitment to God. In our routine daily lives we are rarely challenged to do anything that approaches this level of difficulty. And yet, the weight of the choices we're sometimes faced with seems more than we can bear. The difficulty, the dread, comes from the thought that we cannot do something. The liberation is in finding out we can do more than we thought.

So here's the challenge. You must do the thing you think you cannot do... before the thought of doing it and your imagined negative outcome render you unwilling to even try. An example of how this plays out might be this: You'd like to renegotiate the terms of your employment because you want to pursue your dream of going to law school. More flexible hours, maybe even the ability to work from home, will tremendously simplify your life and make it possible for you to have an income at a job you've liked while pursuing your dream. This is unchartered territory at your company. You imagine that your request will be denied, much less discussed. And yet you hope that it might just go your way. It's in this space between the unknowns that the dread grows; the weight begins to bear down.

Just do it! Do the thing you think you cannot do. If it goes your way or not, you will then know where you stand and make a decision accordingly. But in taking the action you most feared to take, you've released the incredible amount of energy expended in putting it off because you were so unsure of the outcome. Ask yourself each day, "What is the one thing I least want to do today?" That's the first thing you should do. Then do it. You'll be surprised how much lighter you feel for the rest of the day.

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Article Tags: Career Coach, Certified Life Coach, Executive Coach, Life Coach, Life Coaching, Professional Life Coach



Related Forum Posts
Re: Fear of Success - You don't need to fear success. We should embrace it. Fear is define by a man of God as False Evidence Appearing Real. the meaning is what we fear most does'nt come to pass
Other Great Books... - Feel The Fear And Do It AnyWay - Susan Jeffers How To Stop Worrying And Do It Anyway - Dale Carnegie ('What's the worst that could happen - the worst?' Then prepare yourself for that and reality is such a relief!).
Re: What I'm reading this weekend - Oct 8, 2010 - these are great! In particular, I liked "you’re already perfect" and "Smashing through the Black Wall of Fear." That's exciting that there is a new 4-hour book out. I really enjoyed "The 4 hour Workweek."
Re: Franchises in Texas... - [quote="RussellWebb":1kwhwvtt]Hi GT - I'm just fed up with the hand wringing fear-mongers. Yes, let's all do our share to reduce our impact on the global warming issues, yet at the same time we need to hear both sides of the story... then make educated decisions.[/quote:1kwhwvtt] Hi Russell, But don't you think society would fall apart without "fear" acting as a control? Fear is what keeps people in check (e.g. if you commit a crime you go to jail or even get shot by the authorities in some countries).
What keeps you from just doing it? - I think many people have limiting beliefs that keep them from following through on their ideas. Fear is certainly a factor, but even more limiting is the belief that it's too good to be true. Many people don't believe it is as simple as they dream it could be. And yet, some people have done exactly that and made millions. Our world has taught us that you have to work really hard to get money and that it's only for a few. What belief do YOU have about money? Is it keeping you from taking that leap on following through with a great business idea? I used to check in with money possibilities before I made a decision. Now I decide what I want to do and then figure out how to use money as a partner to get what I want. It's so freeing to not make decisions based around money fears... even if the funds aren't even there to follow through with it yet. I feel like I've finally stumbled on a secret. I'm not a millionaire yet, but I can tell you things are certainly going in a positive direction! What's your experience? What keeps you from just following through on your entrepreneurial idea?


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