Fear is a VERY powerful force in the world.
Especially when it comes to making decisions.
When starting something new or doing something for the first time most people will always focus on their fears.
They think…
- “I don’t know what to do.”
- “What if I get hurt?”
- “What if things go wrong?”
Most of the time people get so focused on their fear of what could go wrong that they never end up doing what they wanted to do in the first place.
Or…
They get so worked up and worried about what may happen that they cause themselves mountains of unnecessary stress & worry.
I get it.
I’ve been there before.
But here’s the ting…
In life there are things that you can control and there are things that you can not control.
The only things you should think about are the things that you can control.
Everything else? Leave it up to God.
You can’t have any impact on it whatsoever so don’t worry about it.
For example…
Last year I got surgery to fix a severely deviated septum in my nose.
As the surgery date got closer and closer I had more and more friends/family tell me their worries.
- What was the worst case situation?
- What if something terrible happened?
- What about the pain and recovery process?
While I appreciated their concern, I thought it was funny because the negatives hadn’t crossed my mind.
Of course I knew that there were risks, whenever you are getting surgery there are always risks.
But I didn’t harp on them.
I didn’t let them consume my thoughts.
I was committed to getting the surgery and having a successful recovery and coming out better and stronger than before.
That’s what I focused on.
- I didn’t worry about some unexpected thing happening.
- I didn’t fear my surgeon making a mistake.
- I wasn’t scared about a bad interaction with the anesthesia.
I did my due diligence finding a great surgeon and prepared my body as best I could for surgery.
Then I got the surgery.
And everything turned out great.
Which leads me to the main point of all this:
The Only Thing To Fear Is Fear Itself.
If I had listened to everyone’s worries about my surgery and started doing research about everything that could have gone wrong before I even set foot in the hospital then I doubt I would have gone through with it.
Which is exactly what SO MANY people do when it comes to fitness, business, and trying new things.
They let their fear of the unknown become more powerful than actually doing the thing that they want to do.
Then they fall into the never-ending pit of inaction—fear’s most powerful tool for keeping you stuck in the same place for your entire life.
Here’s the ting…
- Fear does not exist.
- Worry does not exist.
- What-if’s do not exist.
The only thing that exists is you, right now, in the present moment, and that thing you’ve been putting off doing forever.
Which leaves you with a decision to make…
Are you going to continue to put off your dreams?
Or are you going to buckle down, make a plan, and start executing that plan to turn your dreams a reality?
If you’re willing to take that leap…
If you’re willing to push yourself outside of your comfort-zone…
Then you’ll quickly come to realize that all of those fears, all of those doubts, and all of those what-if’s that were holding you back were really all in your head.
And the only thing that you ever truly had to fear was fear itself.
– Steve
P.S. The surgery went well and now a year later my nose is working like it’s never worked before! I can actually breathe through my nose all the time and I’ve been told that I don’t snore anymore. I’m very glad I did it. Big win.