I Dare You … to face fear and doubt
Dare to face the fear of doubt
If fear didn’t get in your way what could you do?
I received a quote:
‘How annoying to get to the end and feel like you never dared to be your true self – that you never lived loud and hearty, that you played safe – only to end up dead anyway!’
It ties in perfectly with my musings of late on how to illustrate the way seeds of fear, doubt and self imposed limitations prevent us from experiencing all manner of possibilities so I’m posing this question for you to consider …
[bctt tweet=” If fear didn’t get in your way what would you dare to do?” username=”SallyCanning”]
You don’t have to pull something big out of the bag … it’s worth remembering, what seems insignificant to one person could be ginormous to another.
I’ll be really transparent here and share with you that for me one of my ‘biggies’ is about feeling exposed and vulnerable in a public arena like networking events.
If we’ve met you’ll know that I love meeting new people and I’m rarely lost for words especially when asked what I ‘do’ – I get all enthused and passionate about this work that is my calling. However, mention the prospect of a network meeting and I’ll find any and every excuse in the book to avoid the fear of the cringe making experience of selling myself to a roomful of strangers, and the results are always the same – missed opportunities and not knowing what could have been if only …
A couple of weeks ago I must have been feeling particularly brave when a simple message “fancy it?” accompanying a pink invitation landed via Face Book for a Ladies at Lunch event to celebrate International Women’s Day. Without a moment’s hesitation, (or time to think), I typed in “I’ve been looking for a partner in crime to attend events like this! ” and pressed return – Courage likes immediacy!
It meant cobbling together a few words for the dreaded elevator speech but in all honesty it felt less of an onerous task because my accomplice was a lady who’s purpose in life is to be ‘interesting’ – and a great job she does too. With an intention set to allow things to unfold easily in the best way for each of us we donned our brightest garb, (a bit of bravado going on there!), and arrived to a lovely light filled room formally set out for a sit down lunch.
Intro’s were easier than anticipated – we each shared what it is we love about our business as well as what we offer and, although access to most of the ladies was limited because of the seating arrangements it was fascinating to share stories with a neighbouring engineering exec who has abseiled for charity twice wearing stiletto heels – don’t you just love it! and a lady who’s making a hit with her glitz and glamour site in addition to personalized hat hire service. Mental note to self here for when my wish to attend at race meeting comes true, and who knows, it might be sooner than later ‘cos I also met a gal promoting a local Racecourse!
What else did I come away with? An IT connection, a place booked on a marketing workshop that I reckon will guide me through the social media maze in plain English, a brief exchange with a portrait artist, may have found myself a company to clean my cottage and received an invitation to lunch at the home of a lovely lady.
Oh, and I won an Easter Egg in the raffle. Not bad for a reflex action to say ‘ YES’ rather than ‘I daren’t, can’t, it’s too uncomfortable etc, etc)’
How about you?
What would you like to do if you could get over the ‘I DAREN’T, I can’t, someday, when the time’s right’ I’d love to but … ‘
Sometimes just the voicing of our fear diminishes it’s power. Sometimes sharing it with others and feeling their support takes us one step towards what we wish for, and sometimes it’s just plain comforting and confirming for women to know they are not alone … One response I received already was from a lady who would love to dare to do something for herself without having to ask permission or consider someone else.