Fear vs Courage

"Once when Marshall Ney was going into battle, 
looking down at his knees which were smiting together, 
he said, 'You may well shake; you would shake

 worse yet if you knew where I am going to take you.'"      

                                                                     Orison Swett Marden

What or who builds self-imposed barriers?  A stonemason named Fear, one who is highly skilled in building powerful barriers from nonexistent stones.  Where does this craftsman live?  In our minds.  He's always there, but it's up to us whether he lives in the back of our minds or the front of our minds.

Fear is the sworn enemy of adventure, which is perhaps the most exhilarating force driving no-limits achievement.  And Fear goes exactly where we tell him to go.

We move Fear from the back of our minds to the front of our minds by shifting our concentration away from our own courage, and choosing instead to focus on that which frightens us.  Not only does that action change Fear's location, but through the process of concentration, it means we actually start to strengthen Fear.  Fear has no strength of its own; its only strength is that which we choose to give it.

When Fear defeats us, it does so because of our own mental focus.  And unfortunately, the strength we pass along to Fear is the very strength we need to overcome it!  If, on the other hand, we choose to push our goals, wrapped in courage, to the forefront of our minds, then barriers break.

You already possess sufficient courage to initiate this process and see your personal adventure through.  A person may not be born with an overabundance of talent, but he or she will certainly possess all the courage needed, whether used or unused, to develop the talent that is there.  Long after passing on to the next world, we will be remembered by family and friends, not necessarily for our inborn talents, but for the amount of courage we used, especially during our times of trial.  The strength and vividness of the memories our loved ones and friends hold of us after we are gone will be directly proportional to the amount of courage we have chosen to use.

Immediate Action: Starve your fear!  Feed your courage!  Embrace your adventure!

Point to Ponder:  "Fear knocked at the door.  Faith answered.  No one was there."  (From above the fireplace at Hinds' Head Hotel, near London.)

Excerpted from Danny Cox’s book, There Are No Limits: Breaking the Barriers to Personal High Performance. $14.99 plus shipping, MC/VISA

24 Lessons in High Performance Leadership

Lesson Sixteen
Overcome Roadblocks to Goal Achievement

I once had a salesperson that was the most frustrating person that ever worked for me. I saw potential in him that he himself, refused to see because of a self-imposed barrier. He made $4,000 on straight commission, almost to the penny, every month. One month, I did everything but move in with him. I big-brothered him to death. He couldn't go to the men's room without me standing guard at the door. I'm proud to say that, in that one month, he nearly doubled his productivity. He made almost $8,000! The following month he made zero dollars. The month after that he made $4,000.

I had forgotten that his breakthrough had to be on his terms, not mine. When we dug deeper, he confessed that he had never had any more money in the bank than his father did when he was growing up. His self-imposed barrier stopped him just short of ever earning more than his father. Once he realized that he was setting the same standard for his children, he broke through his roadblock––and he was still pushing his envelope at last report.

The following roadblocks might be impeding your progress and you may not be fully aware of them:

• Team members fear success: Many people are much more familiar with mediocrity than they are with success and therefore lack the drive to pursue goals. Fear of success is natural if you have little experience with it.

• Team members don’t understand the goals or they seem unattainable: If so, examine how you’ve presented the goals. Did you take the time to think through, from their point of view, their possible reactions to these new goals? Did you break the goals down into doable segments for each person? How clearly did you communicate?

• The effort doesn’t appear to have adequate rewards: When rewards don’t seem forthcoming or consistent with the level of effort required, it’s time for the leader to start selling to the team. Actually, the time for selling is when the goals are being established.

• The procedures for achieving the goals are too rigid: Flexibility is one sign of a confident and creative leader. Too many people impose rigid structure on their organizations because they lack basic confidence in their own abilities and the abilities of their team members. Focusing on results instead of methods will open the door for your people to contribute more of their own originality.

Try these techniques to get your people on the road to achieving goals:

Include the whole team in the goal attainment picture: Make everybody part of your success story from the beginning.

Break down goals into manageable, doable increments: Goals that intimidate can become obstacles. Map out the long journeys as a series of small steps.

Frame the goals so that the rewards are clear: If you can’t sell them on the benefits for then, you’ll probably have to push them all the way.

"Goals are all found upstream."

The Road Block to Higher Productivity: Fear vs. Courage

"Once when Marshall Ney was going into battle, looking down at his knees which were smiting together, he said, 'You may well shake; you would shake worse yet if you knew where I am going to take you."

-- Orison Swett Marden

What or who builds self-imposed barriers? A stonemason named Fear, one who is highly skilled in building powerful barriers from nonexistent stones. Where does this craftsman live? In our minds. He's always there, but it's up to us whether he lives in the back of our minds or the front of our minds.

Fear is the sworn enemy of adventure, which is perhaps the most exhilarating force driving no-limits achievement. And Fear goes exactly where we tell him to go.

We move Fear from the back of our minds to the front of our minds by shifting our concentration away from our own courage, and choosing instead to focus on that which frightens us. Not only does that action change Fear's location, but through the process of concentration, it means we actually start to strengthen Fear. Fear has no strength of its own; its only strength is that which we choose to give it.

When Fear defeats us, it does so because of our own mental focus. And unfortunately, the strength we pass along to Fear is the very strength we need to overcome it! If, on the other hand, we choose to push our goals, wrapped in courage, to the forefront of our minds, then barriers break.

You already possess sufficient courage to initiate this process and see your personal adventure through. A person may not be born with an overabundance of talent, but he or she will certainly possess all the courage needed, whether used or unused, to develop the talent that is there. Long after passing on to the next world, we will be remembered by family and friends, not necessarily for our inborn talents, but for the amount of courage we used, especially during our times of trial. The strength and vividness of the memories our loved ones and friends hold of us after we are gone will be directly proportional to the amount of courage we have chosen to use.

Immediate Action: Starve your fear! Feed your courage! Embrace your adventure!

Point to Ponder: "Fear knocked at the door. Faith answered. No one was there." (From above the fireplace at Hinds' Head Hotel, near London.)

"We're tied with straw and think it's chain."
Danny Cox

Excerpted from Danny Cox’s book, There Are No Limits: Breaking the Barriers to Personal High Performance.

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