The other day I stepped into an ice cold shower. On purpose. Why?
I had just finished reading The Flinch by Julien Smith.
Photo Credit: Ibrahim Iujaz (Creative Commons)
The Flinch is a book about doing things you’re scared of doing to get what you want in life. This book reminded me that sometimes avoiding pain can be costly.
A couple of years ago I had an opportunity to facilitate a two day time management training for an organization. Everything was great except I had never provided a formal training at this level before.
Every self-defeating thought I’ve ever had reared its ugly head as I tried to prepare for this training.
What if I completely forget how to explain the material? What if I don’t pace the class correctly and we’re done for the day at lunch time? What if? You get the picture.
All of these irrational thoughts ran through my head.
However, I committed to doing the training and I knew there was no way out. So I prepared as well as I could and I put my heart into it.
I’ve noticed this repeatedly in my life and in the lives of others. When you do things that scare you:
- You will find out how far you can go. A high jumper can only know when they are performing at their highest ability when they knock the bar off. The same goes for you and I. We can only know our highest potential when we stretch ourselves.
- You will be less fearful in your life. You will find that there are fewer things to fear in life when you do something you were initially afraid of. Your response to life changes from being cautious to welcoming new challenges.
- You will increase your confidence. Guess what happens when you do something you weren’t sure you were capable of? Your confidence skyrockets. Achieving success in one part of our lives often transfers to other parts of our lives as we become more confident.
So how did the training turn out? It went fine. I received positive feedback and high scores from all participants. My fears turned out to be nothing but an illusion.
Also, why did I step into an ice cold shower after reading The Flinch? You’ll have to read the book to find out. (It’s a free download)
Question: Do you know someone who has done something “scary” in their life? How did it turn out for them?
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