Fear

Fear is what people experience when they dwell on the worst-case scenario, regardless of how likely that is to occur. Fear can easily overtake your thought process and paralyze your ability to make clear decisions. Rather than seeing potential and opportunity, your mind creates situations just short of a world war that will be the outcome of your decision. Lets be real, rarely do worst case scenarios ever turn out as bad as you envision.

Comfort is the antonym of fear. We all want to be comfortable, but the level of comfort you enjoy directly correlates to the amount of fear you have conquered in the past. What is comfortable today might have scared you to death last year. You grow with each fear you overcome.

If left alone, fear can cloud your viewpoint causing you to choose something more harmful in the long run. That choice looks good now simply because it makes you comfortable, yet it will handicap your ability to succeed to your full potential later.

A good friend of mine, Bill Arnold, lays it out perfectly in his book Common Sense Success. He uses an acronym that clearly shows how we interpret fear: False Emotions Appear Real.

If you are afraid of something, learn about it. The more you know about the subject or situation the less you fear it.

Not knowing how a situation will work out does not mean you should not do it. Take chances and face your fears.

Don’t let the fear of the unknown postpone your plans indefinitely.