Oh fear, how do I love you, let me count the ways.  LOL.  No seriously, I need to explain fear from my point of view as it may help you navigate better through life’s ever changing waters where fear is abundant.

Fear in a traditional sense is a natural warning your mind tells your body - providing you a warning that something is either “wrong” or “out of place”.  But what is the meaning of “wrong” or even “out of place”?  This is where subjectivity comes into play and where many people miss the jewel that is right in front of them.

When something is “out of place”, it only means that it deviates from your norm.  In addition, something that is “wrong” may not be wrong to someone else, thus “wrong” is actually in the eye of the beholder and is well rooted (or rotted) in one’s belief system.

But if you believe the following quote from Charles Darwin is true, which states, “It is not the strongest species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change”, then this should also give you some insight into these “something’s out of place” signals that your mind tells your body. 

I many ways it is best to look at these fear signals as the entry point to going against doing your norm, as you may find yourself in the foyer of “change” by having opened up yourself to changing who you are by actually doing what may have seemed “out of place” or “wrong” to do in the beginning.  Wow, that’s a mouthful.

…now, go find your new found friend Fear and give her a hug.   Your growth and success may depend on it.

How many of us attempt to find success in something because it’s wildly popular at the moment, and think that if they also do this popular thing (or do it better) that they too will become wildly popular and/or successful?  

Maybe I’m the only one who acted in this way, lol.  But if I’m not alone, then you will like to learn what I learned a short while ago.  It is: “Do what you’re a natural at.”

This is such an understated comment, and under-utilized philosophy.  What you may fail to realize is that doing what you’re a natural at puts you 3 times ahead of those who may be in the same field.  Heck, doing what you’re a natural at puts you in a position to learn faster in the thing that you’re a natural at doing.  Now who doesn’t want an edge in life?  Again, maybe only me…but if not, then pheeeew!!

Do I have facts to back this up??  Ummm, I only have myself as an example…so I guess not.  But, I must admit, life sure has changed a lot (in a great way) once I started doing what I’m a natural at.  

Some may ask, “how do I find out what I’m a natural at”.  My answer to that is simple.  Just ask your parents to examine your childhood (from age 1-10) and tell you what you did better than other kids in your age range.  I guarantee you that you will be able to pinpoint one of these very things in your adult life today.  Perhaps you didn’t cultivate it, but now’s the time!  It will pay dividends…even better than those from HomeDepot stock in the 90’s.

FYI: If you find that you were actually the worst at everything, then you’d be happy to know that that’s actually the same as being the best…just the best at being the worst…so you need to figure out how to take advantage of these inverse relationships.

Until later, Ciao for now.