I hope you are having a great day no matter when and where you are reading this. This post is bound to make an impact on you if you are someone (like myself and many others) who sometimes struggles with fear.
I asked my friend, serial entrepreneur and all around great guy Matt Symes "how does a person overcome the fear of doing something or getting started with something".
His answer was fascinating and made so much sense.....
There was a time I was in my hotel room in Santa Monica, heart racing, tears almost coming and wondering if I should go to my first ever business coaching meeting with Craig Ballantyne.
I had it in my head that I was walking into an intimidating room with a bunch of super successful people I had nothing in common with.
And telling myself that I was an idiot for feeling this way and "what is wrong with me".
If I had Matt's advice, I likely would have been more calm.
Matt says when you are feeling this way to make two lists.
List #1: All of the bad things that could happen from you doing the thing.
List #2: All of the good things that could happen from doing the thing.
Then you likely realize all of the bad things are very unlikely to happen and if you don't do it you are missing out on all of the good things!
I didn’t make these lists, but I did take a deep breath and make my way to the meeting. After I sat down, Josh from Memphis introduced himself to me and our table and the tables around us quickly filled up with smiling business owners from all over the world.
My fears quickly went away, nothing bad happened to me and I came away from that meeting with life long friends and a renewed focus on the business. The picture attached is me and Coach Craig. He’s been an instrumental mentor throughout the last 6 years of my entrepreneurial journey.
The great thing about successful people is that most of them started from scratch and worked their way up over a long period of time. So instead of looking down on the beginners, they are actually super open to helping them because they likely got some help when they were in that stage. This goes for business, fitness and many other areas of life.
Now how can we apply Matt’s wise words about fear to various situations in our lives?
Joining the gym. Asking the person out. Asking the boss for a raise etc. Let’s talk about fitness and joining a gym for the first time.
What are the bad things that could happen? People could make fun of you, you could get injured, you could pee your pants in front of others or you could have a panic attack. None of those things would be very fun but they are all very unlikely.
What are all the good things that could come from joining a gym? You could make some amazing new fitness friends, you could get in the best shape of your life, you could have more energy than you ever had, you could be a role model for your kids, you could become more productive at work and so much more.
Would the good outweigh the bad enough for you to get started on your fitness goals?
I hope this helps you as much as it did me and I hope that if you have health and fitness related goals that you send me an email mathewevolve@gmail.com. I am happy to give you a tour of one of our locations and give you specific advice of where to go based on your current situation.
Matt
Matt & Craig Ballantyne