Facing Fear and Building Beliefs

The scariest thing in the world isn’t the dark, or snakes, or even speaking in public.

Do you know what the scariest thing in the world is?

It’s making a decision to change and grow.

Complacency is one of the biggest challenges, and threats, to growth there is.

- It’s easier to stay home and watch TV instead of going to the gym.

- It’s easier to bite your tongue and say nothing instead of standing up for yourself in a work environment.

- It’s easier to order pizza instead of getting up, going shopping, and doing the work to prepare your own healthy food.

So when we find ourselves in these spots where we know that things need to change and be different, the fear of change takes over and we look for the easiest solution to get through it.

This fear is so subtle that we often don’t even realize it.

Then, when growth opportunities arise, we tend to self-sabotage because it is easier than doing the harder work to grow.

One of the reasons you default to this is because your values aren’t clarified. You think they are, but what happens when fear rises up is that you default to what you really believe about yourself.

- I deserve to watch TV.

- I’m not worth sticking up for at work.

- I’m an unhealthy person.

But this isn’t the truth. These are limiting beliefs. They are false beliefs that you have about yourself.

And real, true, lasting change comes by changing these limiting beliefs first…and behaviours second.

(We often reverse these. We try to change behaviours first. But until we attack our limiting beliefs and change them first, our behaviours will not align.)

In coaching, we find that the topic the client comes with is often masking the inner work of challenging and changing limiting beliefs that must be done first.

In coaching, we strip away these limiting beliefs and empower you to ideate your true values in a way that lets you align your activities and behaviours with your true values.

If this post describes you, or if you’re ready to take this challenge on, contact me — contact me here or email me at jeremy AT jeremyhoover DOT com and let’s talk.