Overcome fear and follow your own yellow brick road!

Do you guard against the “fear of yourself”?

I have had one of those days when I feel like saying ”YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING! THERE IS MORE?!”

Know what I mean?

It reminds me of those Saturday projects that start simple -  like cleaning your closet of clothes you don’t need -  and then takes a wrong turn – into completely remodeling the whole closet.  Sunday night arrives, you have clothes everywhere, the closet is torn apart, you’re tired, frustrated and you can’t believe you went from just cleaning out the closet to a whole bedroom makeover!

Even better…….I can remember helping Glenna move one time.  The move went from a simple move from one house to another,  to a garage sale, trip to Goodwill, bake sales for those attending, and a social get-together!  It just seemed to expand at an exponential level!

More recently, Glenna and I have been working on several projects all at once that fit this idea.  It seems like every time we get one part completed 10 more open up.

Have you ever had one of those experiences at home……….or maybe a project at work that seemed like it never stopped expanding?

We are working on creating a REMARKABILTY TV SHOW.  The show will highlight others who are out in their communities letting their lives speak and practicing remarkability.  As we plunged forward it seemed to get more difficult, emotionally harder and I began to ask myself if it was really all worth it…………………………………………………………….?

Then I realized I had only been practicing 2 of the 3 c’s of remarkability…

I have been missing a critical link to moving forward.  You have heard me talk about the first two many times: Clarity of vision and confidence in your belief!

Clarity of our vision relates to our life purpose.  Our vision for our lives -  how we want to make a difference – must be crystal clear.  You can’t have too much detail in your vision.  I use pictures of things I find to refine the picture in my head even more.  I kept a picture board in front of me every day so I can see it!  It keeps me focused on my life purpose and motivated to achieve success.  What the mind can envision, the body can create!

Confidence in ourselves seems to be a daily challenge for a lot of folks. Me included!! I once heard this definition of a lack of confidence: “A lack of confidence is doing just a little less than you know you can do.”  I break down my projects into activities, my activities in small action steps and my actions into steps that take less than an hour to complete.  When I break it down into small bite size pieces … I accomplish more, feel less frustrated and my confidence builds quickly.  This helps me avoid feeling frozen, stuck and unable to move!

But I have been leaving out the third “C” lately!

COURAGE is the missing component!!!!!!!

In his book Why Courage Matters John McCain wrote, “We are all afraid of something. Some have more fears than others. The one we must all guard against is the fear of ourselves. Fear is the opportunity for courage, not the proof of cowardice.”

Mother Teresa said,”To have courage for whatever comes in life- everything lies in that.”

John McCain also said that, “Courage is not the absence of fear, but the capacity for ACTION despite our fears.”

Now, I do not consider myself a brave man.  Many times I feel like I have taken the easier road.  Every time I have done that I regret that I didn’t take a different action.

Today I am going to take a different approach.  Today I am setting my fears aside.  Today I will replace fear with action.  Even if it is the smallest of steps.  Today I see my vision with new clarity.  Today I have a deeper belief in myself. Today I stand confident in where I am going. Today I know I can make a difference.  Today I replace one fear with one action.  Today I step into my courage!

How about you?

Will you take one action to begin?

Will you take one small step into your courage?

Will you be courageous for those around you?

Will lead the way for others to let their life speak?

Come on …

I DARE YOU!

BART

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