courage to flourish

Do you have the courage to flourish?

What are you going to do this summer that you’ve never done before and have always wanted to do?

Are you having a hard time getting yourself going this morning? Well, this will wake you up. I’m jumping right into this week’s topic. FEAR!

Fear can prevent you from progressing in your career and in your personal life. It prevents you from opening up to experiences which could be rewarding. It hampers your receptivity as an individual. It has a way of becoming a “monster” if you let it fester because the more you think about the thing you fear doing, the worse it seems. When fear stands in the way of you becoming all you can be, learn to make it work for you, not against you.

There are times when F-E-A-R is nothing more than – False Evidence Appearing Real! We all have experienced it. Fear comes in different sizes and shapes and has different faces.

Recognize too that the things one person fears, you may not fear and vice versa. Be tolerant of others’ fears, because to them, the fear might be overwhelming. For example, do you know anyone who suffers from Coulrophobia? I do. The fear of clowns is very prevalent; in fact, there are over 356,000 results for the term when Googled. Not everyone suffers the same fears but we all experience fear.

The big difference between people is that for some, fear paralyzes and for others fear becomes a personal challenge. It gets their adrenalin pumping, in a good way. Every time you confront your fears, you become a stronger person. You prepare yourself for bigger and greater things to come. This isn’t to say that once you conquer a fear you will never again be afraid. It’s just that when you learn to deal with a fear and experience some success in taking it on, you will be more inclined to take on the next worrisome challenge and come out on top!

Going back to my question at the beginning, what are you going to do this summer that you have never done and always wanted to do? Do not put it off another year. Now is the time to get up and get going with your life.

To make it easier, you can start by doing something that will cause you to flourish in some aspect of your life weekly. Baby steps are fine. In fact, ongoing baby steps will lead to a huge leap of upward growth over several months. This really boils down to building your confidence. When you are confident about something, you take on more and more.

Here are some idea generators.

  1. Volunteer to lead a meeting at work.
  2. Attend an after-work function where you do not know people, thus stretching you out of your comfort zone.
  3. Go to lunch with a colleague who you do not know well.
  4. Ask a seasoned executive assistant if you may join him or her for lunch.
  5. Join the local gym that you have been thinking about for months.
  6. Check out a new sport or hobby.
  7. Streamline a current process and get other co-workers to implement it.
  8. Sign up for an educational program that will challenge your thinking.
  9. Offer to teach a mini workshop for the administrative assistants at your organization.
  10. Do anything that “scares” you a little bit.

Normally, after we have done something we did not think we could do, we build our confidence. This encourages us to tackle other things that we are afraid to try. Then when we come out on the other side of that hurdle, we get even more confidence which inspires us to continue on the journey of regularly challenging ourselves.

Continue to read your Monday Motivators™ as they will be fertilizer for your soul!

Joan Burge

Inner Circle Webinar with Peggy Vasquez

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