With Halloween around the corner, it got me thinking about how life can present opportunities that we don’t take, because we’re not willing to do the scary thing.
What scary thing?
You know, making that phone call, posting that message, contacting that person… the thing that you’ve been putting off doing because it’s a bit too scary.
What about it is scary for you?
What’s stopping you?
Are you afraid that if you say that thing, put that thing out there, that you’ll be judged? Ridiculed? Told you’re stupid?
Fear of rejection can be a strong way to hold yourself back.
What is it costing you to *not do* it?
This scary thing that you’ve not yet done, what is it costing you not to do it?
Is it keeping you up at night? Stopping you from making or receiving money? Haunting you?
If by not doing the scary thing, you’re torturing yourself and generally life is miserable for the not doing it, then is the pain of not doing it outweighing the short sharp fear of just doing it?
Familiar Fear
Living with the fear of doing the scary thing may feel familiar. Safe in your stuckness. It may not be very comfortable, but at least it’s the devil you know.
You don’t have the uncertainty of what doing the scary thing might stir up.
But is sitting in the fear really a better solution?
Gather your courage, take a deep breath and just do it.
If you get the sense that by doing it, your life will be easier, better, less stuck, then JFDI Do it.
Simple.
Not necessarily easy (although it could actually be much easier than you’ve built it up to be in your mind).
Sometimes we’ve simply got to feel the fear and do it anyway.
The quicker the better. Do it. Then it’s done. The fear of doing it is over. The pain created by not doing it is gone.
And of course once you’ve done that scary thing, you can feel good about yourself.
You did it! You overcame your fear. You moved yourself out of stuckness. You’ve opened up fresh possibilities by doing the thing and whether the thing that you did creates what you hoped it would or not, you can still hold your head up and be proud.
You did the scary thing and you survived.
In doing this, you are building core strengths. You are showing yourself that you are able to do stuff that you thought you’d never be able to do.
Each scary thing that you do, the little things and the big things, each one is building your strength, building your resilience, building your capacities.
So that the next scary thing will be a little less scary and you’ll be a little stronger and more willing to get it done.
Each time it will get easier and easier and you’ll feel stronger and stronger and the fear of doing these things will dissipate and dissolve and gradually, over time, it’ll hardly be there at all.
If you would like to take a fun quiz to give you a few pointers and free help for you to do the thing, then click here for The Fabulousness Quiz.
Let me know how you get on with doing your thing in the comments below.