The photo to the right of this weight lifter at the Rio Olympics dramatically illustrates an important psychological principle. You must find a way to embrace your challenges and fears. Can you see and feel how this athletes loves for her sport makes her “one” with the experience? She “loves” the weights because she strives to make her competition a cooperative venture with the weights, not an adversarial one. How often do you avoid taking on a challenge, or act afraid of taking a test, trying something new, breaking out of your comfort zone? There are 3 routes you can take with any challenge in your life,
- You can resist, become perfectionistic, find the negatives of any situation, which only serves to make you an adversary to your challenge. Problems arise for many people when they feel performance is pressure rather than fun or exciting. Stress, fear, and anxiety about performance always negatively impacts achievement.
- You can avoid and distract yourself with excuses & rationalizations and live in fear or,
- You can “take the call to adventure” (Joseph Campbell-Hero’s Journey reference) to face your fears by leaning into them. Get prepared, get support, learn the skills, get coaching, find the best practices for your endeavor.
If you have a fear of elevators, driving, heights, public speaking, taking tests, intimacy, or change, there is help and hope. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) provides skills, tools and techniques to assist you in overcoming these limitations. The best way out of fear is going through it. So, embrace the fear with a guide and teacher to partner with it. You can accomplish your goals and conquer those fears.
