Too many people go through life as JUST ANOTHER PERSON, and too many people are remembered as just another person, if anything at all. Think about it. If you died tomorrow, would the world remember you?
I’m betting the answer is no, because it is for the majority, and you wouldn’t be reading this article if your answer was yes. I believe that the most important reason why successful people are successful is because they run towards their fears. But don’t take my word for it. The likes of Tony Robbins, Will Smith, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Robin Sharma are all extremely successful people who have acknowledged that you should approach your fears.
And don’t worry, I’m not going to tell you to jump off a cliff or go around driving your car at 100mph, (though I’m sure some of you have). So first of all, I’d like to establish WHEN you should run towards your fears…
When considering any action to take, always go for it if you know it follows what you truly desire. If you do not do this, then you will never make bold decisions to get towards anything you really want, and you will be just another sheep amongst people. If the possible triumphs from taking the action are limitless, while the potential failures of taking the action is limited, then you should always take action. For instance, if there is a girl or guy you want to approach, the potential positives are limitless - you could end up in a relationship with that person, or they could end up as your future spouse. Meanwhile, the potential negatives are limited – maybe the person doesn’t want to speak to you. Who cares? At least you found that out rather than regretting not approaching at all. Clearly, the best-case scenario far outweighs the worst-case scenario. Naturally though, humans do more to avoid pain, than they do to seek pleasure. This makes sense when you think about it. In the wild, you would avoid the tiger before you approach the woman or man. But from being aware of this fact, you know that the voice in your head telling you to not take action in order to avoid the pain, you know it’s okay to take action, and is actually an alarm to do the opposite of what your brain is telling you to do. Then when you take the action, you feel way better about yourself, even if it didn’t go well, because you pushed your comfort zone. I’m willing to bet you’ve experienced this feeling before.
What if you still can’t get yourself to take action towards what you really desire? Maybe you have a problem with eating healthily. When you get in the house you just can’t seem to help but go straight to the cupboard where the sweets are. This is due to the fact that you consider the pain of not eating tasty sweets as outweighing the pleasure of losing weight and feeling great about your body, even though you know that long-term, you’ll feel way better about yourself. People, especially nowadays, want instant gratification. You need to jump off the bandwagon and start thinking LONG-TERM. Always, before you make any decision, ask yourself, “does this action support my long-term growth?” Eating sweets satisfies your taste buds in the short-term, but they harm your body in the long run.
You’re probably thinking, “this sounds all well and good, but I’m still going to do what I’ve always done”. Acting like a sheep will get you nowhere, and deep down, you know this to be true. But what will make you actually take action? The secret is to be disgusted with where you are currently at. If you know you could improve any area of your life, but are still pretty content with where you’re at, you aren’t going to bother to make bold decisions. The trick to do this is to look at the people around you who are unsuccessful, and ask yourself if you want to end up where they are. I bet you’d want to run a mile away from them. This will cause you to take MASSIVE ACTION.
And don’t kid yourself. Not every time you take action are you going to succeed. I applied to hundreds of jobs before I got an interview, and then went to 3 interviews before I got a job. Know that you are most likely going to fail. This way, you will be less anxious and more relaxed with the action you want to take, as you will be less focused on the outcome. Moreover, when you fail, you will be less affected by the failures, and so you won’t want to give up. Instead, you will see each failure as a learning curve, and there will be one less mistake you will make in the future. Therefore, each failure is one step closer to success, so be thankful that you failed. Ensure that when you fail (and you will fail a lot of the time), you adjust your approach to the action. When I failed my first 2 interviews, I learned that I needed more work experience and to show more of an interest in the interviewer, to make the interview became more conversational, until I finally got a job on my third attempt (these are genuine tips by the way!). Many people would have just blamed it on the interviewer and not bothered to apply for another job for months, but this is where your expectation that you could well fail helps. Know that life is a NUMBERS GAME – then no obstacle will stop you in your path.
Once you have wholeheartedly decided you are going to change any area of your life, the most important step to take is to raise your standards, rather than setting goals. If you set a goal to make £1 million in 1 year, and you only make £10,000, you did not achieve your goal, so you are probably going to give up. Instead, if you raise your STANDARD, by saying to yourself that you will not settle for anything less than millions in your future career, you will never stop working to make the millions, because you can never fail. As long as you are following your desires, you are never failing. Only by following something you don’t want to do just to please others, are you failing. It might take 10 years, but with the determination, you will find a way. This is the main reason to have higher standards – you will never settle for anything less, and you will constantly live your life by those standards.
In summary, if you want to achieve what you really want in life, you must run towards your fears when deep down, you know it can lead you closer to your aspirations. In order to ensure you run towards your fears, you must first be disgusted by where you are currently at, and then remember, most importantly of all, RAISE YOUR STANDARDS.
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