How to Overcome the 'Thing' You Are Afraid of Right Now.

"Why in the world do so many brilliant, capable, educated people allow fear to hold them back? I totally understand the whole concept of fear – what I don't understand more is why we let it get in the way of living our dream life." This was the opening paragraph of a blog by Pat Mussieux I read yesterday, it got me thinking of an experience that happened this week I wanted to share with you. Wednesday saw

my son turn 24, I know I don't look old enough but I am, we will leave that discussion for another blog post.

In honour of his birthday we thought we would have a family day out.

We love Alton Towers especially at Halloween with its 'Scarefest' its a fabulous (not cheap) but a fun day out. In our family we all love the rides and enjoy seeing each one of us tormented by the anticipation, the exhilaration you experience after you have completed the ride. We have done so many theme parks across the world together that the real adrenaline loaded rides don't actually have the same fear as they used to as we know what to expect. With this in mind it was interesting to see this tested as we approached the ride that I love 'Oblivion' it tests all my senses and pushes me out of my comfort zone and reminds me of the mindset I need to have to continue building my business, a mindset we all need to develop and grow, guts, tenacity, desire and determination.

We enter the walk up to the ride and are met with practically no queue.

For those of you that have done this ride you will know there is a little jaunt to get up to the ride area itself. As we are walking up my hubby turns to me "You know what Debs, I am actually feeling quite scared. I have done this ride numerous times with you and today I am not afraid to tell you, fear is coursing through my vains." I asked him if he wanted my help with settling his mind. He said 'No I will be OK!' I could see he wasn't but if you offer help and someone doesn't take it, don't take it personally, it says more about them than it does about you.

As the ride ascended to the top I noticed hubs had his eyes closed by now.

And when we got to the top where the views are stunning and you're suspended hanging waiting to be dropped into the abyss waiting for those spilt second words  "Don't Look Down" ... I could see he wasn't looking down and his knuckles were white from holding on so tight.

After the ride was over he said we need to do that again, no arguments from me I love it and could do ride it over and over. I asked what the urgency was, he said "Now I need to do that fearlessly and not with fear as I didn't enjoy the experience as much as I normally do." So we rode again. After we rode again he was standing tall, looking fearless and like he had just achieved a gold medal. The interesting point here is it proved to me that our emotional mindset is the driver of all our results. As thoughts, become emotions, which lead to actions, and ultimately the results of our experiences.

One ride, taken twice, each with a different mindset which produced differing results.

-The first experience was taken with thoughts of what if ... it's not safe. I get hurt or worse still we could die. The emotion produced based on these thoughts was fear with a feeling of insecurity, the action taken was to close the mind in order to protect, close the eyes and hold on tight which resulted in reducing the exhilaration of the experience and limiting the enjoyment.
-The second ride was taken with the thoughts of I trust this process. The emotion produced based on these thoughts were excitement and feeling in control, the action taken was to open the mind to enjoying the ride, relaxing on the journey to the top and enjoying the views which resulted in an empowering, triumphant experience.

Take a moment and think what you fear right now and how it's affecting your life.

What thoughts are you having surrounding this fear, what emotions are these thoughs triggering? what actions is this activating or inhibiting? and ultimately how is the affecting the results you are having. As Pat said in her blog "It IS all in your head. Take action today to identify where you are letting fear hold you back and, more importantly, take action to address those fears and get on with living your best life!"

In conclusion we can overcome the 'thing' we are afraid of right now

Just by changing our thoughts about it and trusting ourselves with the process of change. Try it get a piece of paper, write down your fear, and list what thoughts come with this, what emotions, actions and results you are experiencing. It comes down to choice act in fear or fearlessly. I know which I chose, what about you?