In sports, we often build up our opponents into metaphorical giants.
We over-index on respect.
We envision massive failure in front of loved ones, strangers, even haters.
In life and work, we do the same thing: “dying a thousand times” well before the opportunity to show up as our best selves.
Jesse Itzler, serial entrepreneur and best-selling author of “Living with the Monks” calls this The Wall of Fear.
“Instead of practicing for my speech in front of 35,000 people, I begin building what I call the wall of fear in my head. I don’t envision a standing ovation or extended applause. I envision pure failure. We have two choices as we approach that wall: Are you going to let that wall of fear keep you away from where you want to go, or are you going to figure out how to get to the other side of it?”
Jesse Itzler
The reality is that everything we want resides on the other side of the wall.
A mantra that helps me and the teams I coach achieve our big goals is the acronym F.E.A.R.
False Evidence Appearing Real.
Humans are not designed to to be anxious or exist in fearful states.
Our gravest worries and deepest insecurities rarely come to pass.
If you’re going to be afraid, then be afraid of wasting your own potential.
This is my greatest nightmare.