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Let’s throw away $10,000 through fear

Written by: Harlan Goerger

Article Overview: The fear of change can be so great that people will throw money away rather than make a small change. How do you deal with this and get them moving forward.

Let’s throw away $10,000 through fear

How fear becomes the biggest hurdle. Let's say I find a way for you to have $10,000 extra in your account in the next 12 months. It's your money; you just pay it to yourself instead of someone else. You have not changed your life style and you have not really changed anything. Yet you acquire just under $1,000 extra each month!

Now you're a young couple, Jim & Cindy, with a baby, good jobs and income yet very tight on the cash flow! What would the cushion of an extra $900 - 1000 each month mean to you!

So far you are skeptical, yet this is a true scenario. An adviser is sitting with the Jim & Cindy and shows them just how they can do it. There it is, legal and all based on math. It's just a different way of looking at how you finance things and use your cash.

They get excited about the prospect of paying off debt faster and not having to deal with the pressure of more bills than cash.

"Here is what I'll do to get this started. It is tight yet it can be done." Says the advisor.

Then it happens.....

The advisor has things in progress and it's a 90% or better chance this can happen for the couple.

Then the phone call comes. "We just don't think we can do this. This is so different we're not sure we feel comfortable. We want to wait a year until we have a different situation and have more bills paid off." says Jim.

"Jim, you realize there is $10,000 cash laying on the table for you and it's your money! It's yours to pay those bills with!" replies the advisor? "What could possibly cause you to hesitate on this at all?"

"We just do not feel comfortable with this, we want to keep it as is for now." was the reply.

So what happened?

FEAR! The advisor could hear it in the voice!

Fear of change! Fear of being different! Fear of making an error!

As you look at the scenario I'll assume most of you would say this is a no brainer decision. A young couple dealing with cash flow and a gift of different thinking that wealthy people use all the time is offered! Why wouldn't they take it?

It's the law of conformity. This is different than my peers think, my parents think and my neighbors think. The last thing I want to do is stand out differently than anyone else. It's uncomfortable and I want to feel comfortable; even if it can be valuable for me and my family.

Often times I have used the statement, "It is easier to put up with the pain of the present than go though the pain of change for the better."

What we know today, no matter how bad the situation, it is familiar to us and comfortable. We all probably know someone that seems stuck in a situation and we wonder why they don't see it and change! Truth is they do see it, but it's familiar while the change is not!

In sales, coaching and leading, this is probably one of the biggest hurdles to overcome when trying to get others to alter their thinking or behavior.

Here we have a life line thrown to Jim & Cindy, one they can use, yet their FEAR causes them to let go and drift.

The adviser questioned the fear in many ways and tried all kinds of reasoning. That is the challenge with Fear, even when it is uncovered and sitting on the table for all to see, it still has such great power. Hopefully time will help Jim & Cindy realize what they have passed up and overcome their fear.

The question is what fear is controlling you? Is it consciously or unconsciously controlling you or directing your choices?

That customer that just will not make a choice, that employee that just does not seem to improve, might it be fear you're dealing with?

The first key to dealing with fear is recognizing it and then acknowledging it. In this scenario the agent pulled the fear out, Jim & Cindy acknowledge it, but it wasn't enough. Now time takes over and allows them to process this fear. Hopefully the day they are once more short of cash for the month, they'll make the call.

"Do the thing you fear and the death of fear is certain! " Dale Carnegie

Till next week...

Make it a great life as only you can!

Harlan Goerger

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Article Tags: 12 months, adviser, amp, better chance, cash flow, change fear, cindy, different situation, hurdle, jobs, life style, math, money, nbsp, paying off debt, phone call, reply, young couple



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Re: 10 Reasons Who Startups Fail & Book Recommendations - Great post. But there is a paramount reason why business star up fail that is not addressed here. Which is the fear of failure. Someone said the fear should not been seen as a monster, but should be seen as horse that you can tame and ride as you like.
Re: The Fearless Factor by Jacqueline Wales - Hi Shri, Sounds like an interesting book as fear is something I'm sure all entrepreneurs face when starting or operating their businesses. But I think that fear also plays an important role in keeping us humble and forces us to do our due diligence before acting.
Global warming in Texas? - dang folks... I've got to throw in my two cents here as I have done a little research. Michael Crichton wrote a good book that is well researched called 'state of fear' where he digs into the details of global warming and particularly who benefits and makes money from it. He weaves an interesting fictional story that touches on his findings. It's a good read. One conclusive fact: Universities receive large grants from foundations, gov't etc... There's a ton of conflicting reports written by ego-driven 'experts' that boggle the mind. They make a lot of money that supports their cause and programs. It PAYS to keep people in a perpetual state of fear. There is mounting evidence that the whole solar system is heating up as well. All of the planets are showing increased signs of warming. This points us to our beloved central sun. Yes it's getting warmer all right - but is it our fault? Partially yes, of course, however there is much to say about our Suns unusual activity esp. in recent years. BTW, Al Gores dramatic carbon pollution claims have fallen flat with a lot of his fellow researchers and Gore has finally backed off on those initial claims.
Re: Kevin's Case Study #14 - When to quit being an entrepreneur? - I agree with GT on this point. I also think that a lot of these decisions are fear based. If people say that they don't have the time, or other similar excuses then nine times in ten it is more that they fear failure. Either that or the bug has never bitten. Once bitten it is nearly impossible to stop thinking like an entrepreneur. MichelleJ


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