Does fear creep in when you are making important decisions?
When you are making important decisions does fear creep in? Do you struggle more with the fear than you do with the potential upside of the decision? There is a simple way to tackle this. Let me explain….
It’s called fear setting…Instead of goal setting
My good friend, Craig Zuber, first shared this with me and it’s a game changer. Here are some questions to ask yourself. What is preventing you from taking action? What is the cost of taking action? What is the cost of your inaction?
That last question can really sting if we answer it honestly! We’ll get to that. So how can we complete the fear setting exercise and help us be free to make the best decision, not the one that only avoids the fear?
The first step is to define the fear or fears. This means what is the real, unfiltered, fears you have in your business or life that hold you back from making decisions that can lead to great things! It may go something like….What if I………What if this happens…….What if, What if, What if! List them all. There could be 1 fear, 5 fears, or 20 fears. List them all!
The second step is to list what all you can do to prevent any of the things you fear from happening. Take each fear and list all the ways you can either eliminate it from happening or you can minimize it. Be specific in how you would eliminate or minimize it. Don’t worry, it’s okay if you can’t eliminate them all.
The third step is to list, if your worst fear were to be realized, how long would it take to get back to where you are now? A lot of times there are consequences to hard decisions. However, what lies on the other side of those hard decisions is sometimes totally life changing. We might not eliminate all the fear and some fears even come true…and that may be a small price to get back to where we are now and then propel past it and break through ceilings that have been holding us back!
The fourth step is to list what the cost of inaction is for you to NOT make the decision and let your fears win. List ALL the items. Do it at the 6 month mark, 1 year mark, 3 year mark, and further out if you want. It’s very important to be detailed with this list. This is what you could potentially lose if you take no action! This could be the cost including emotionally, physically, financially, and any other way such as relationally with those in your life that are affected by your decision. We want to know with clear vision what our inaction may cost us both short term and long term. As painful as it is, list them all!
After this simple, yet powerful exercise, you will gain massive clarity. You will gain clarity on the decision, what fears that could come true if you take action, how to mitigate and/or eliminate as many of those fears as possible, if some come true how long it may take to get back to where you are, and last but for sure not least, what the cost of inaction on this decision is for you and those affected by it over time.
Good luck on your decision and don’t let fear be the deciding factor!
Chuck Johnson
Team Owner – Johnson Property Group
#1 Real Estate Team in Western North Carolina
Business Coach
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Love it ! Thanks for the info Johnson property Group