What’s the worst thing that could happen?
Fear stands for –
False
Evidence
Appearing
Real
How often have you been afraid of something only to find out later you had nothing to be afraid of?
Fear can cripple us from doing the things we want to do. My own fear almost kept me from obtaining my MBA degree. After being accepted into the program I went to the orientation night before classes started. At this point in my life I was working as a promotional model taking different gigs each weekend to scrape by. I did not feel like a working professional at all. I had no corporate work experience at all. I sat in that room with people who all looked very professional and confident and most were quite a bit older than I was. I was filled with fear. I was afraid I wasn’t smart enough. I was afraid they would laugh at my lack of work experience. I was even afraid I wouldn’t know what kind of clothes to wear! I had owned and operated my own clothing and music store in my early 20s as well as thrown huge multi-day music festivals, but I feared that I wasn’t good enough. That fear caused me to call the university the next day and defer my program start date for a year.
A year later I went to that first night of class, and yes, I was still afraid; but this time I asked myself what was the worst thing that could happen? I could say something stupid and people could laugh at me. I could be an idiot and fail the class. I could lose money if I drop out at the midterm… And of course none of those things happened because I changed my perspective and kept going to class despite my fear. Instead of focusing on the fear, I decided to think about what was the best thing that could happen? I told myself I had to be smarter than at least a few people in class. I decided to raise my hand and volunteer to go first every time in class.
And you know what happened? I ended up loving my classes! I found out quickly that I was an essential member of the class. I brought a very unique perspective to the class with my marketing insights. The other professionals in the class respected me and really valued the creativity and positive spirit that I contributed. My final strategy paper was graded by the head of the school, and he wrote on there that it was one of the best papers he had ever graded. So by overcoming those fears, I was able to pursue a dream and gain a confidence that has stayed with me since then.
So next time you find yourself feeling fearful about a choice, ask yourself what’s the worst thing that could happen? Then, ask yourself what’s the best thing that could happen? If the answer isn’t that you could die, then go for it! Change your perspective and you just might find that the best thing really does happen.
Doing things that scare you is the best way to change your life, but that’s another blog topic to cover later.
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