Nothing To Fear
by Joe Bonura
Fear, Fear, And More Fear
Fear is a concern in our lives: fear about the future, fear about
taxes, fear about the economy, fear about health issues, and on,
and on, and on. Fear is the worst kind of virus. It is like a botox
to the spirit; it freezes your emotions and talents, keeping you
from taking action.
The Evidence Is In
A great acronym for FEAR is
F-False
E-Evidence
A-Appearing
R-Real
On the surface, you may feel that statement is nothing more than
a platitude, but if you dig deeper, you find that it is a true statement.
Suburban Jungle
When my son Joe was 14 years old, he asked if he and a friend could
camp out in the woods behind our home. I figured that they would
be fine since we lived in the city and the woods in question were
only about three blocks wide. Near midnight, my wife and I heard
some shuffling in the kitchen, and I went to investigate and found
my son and his friend had just come in from the woods.
Cougar
They were out of breath, and had some minor scratches on their
arms, and they were minus their shoes. When I asked why they were
home instead of sleeping in the woods, Joes friend said that
as they were opening their sleeping bags for the night, they heard
a loud roar, Joe yelled cougar, and in the excitement, they dropped
everything and ran for home.
Playing Possum
The next morning, I investigated the cougar sighting in the middle
of a Louisville, Kentucky residential neighborhood. The flashlights
were still there on the ground, and the batteries were dead. Their
sleeping bags remained half open, and the campfire had not been
lit. Twenty feet from their campsite, I discovered a possum hole.
I believe that poor possum must have come out of his hole, saw the
intruders, and let out a sharp, piercing sound. They heard it as
a roaring cougar, and they ran frantically for the safety of home.
The genuine belief that a cougar was in the woods created a physical
reaction as if a cougar really was in the woods. Thus, my case for
False Evidence Appearing Real.
Come Out Alive
To many people today, the economy is their cougar: They hear it
roaring every day in the news. While the facts are mostly true,
it is your reaction to the roar that will determine whether or not
you come out of the woods unscathed.
State Of Mind
You can transform the roar to a whimper by your reaction to the
perceived threat. I have seen lion tamers use nothing more than
a chair to control a cage full of wild jungle cats. What you dont
see is that the chair would not protect the lion tamer if the lions
detected his fear. The tamers calm and confident state of
mind controls the pride of wild beasts.
Action Power
Use mind power and action power as your chair to control the perceived
beasts in your life. Change your mind set, and you will change your
circumstances. You must take positive, aggressive action when you
are confronted with the roar of negative circumstances. Do not simply
sit in the lion tamers chair; aggressively grasp it and wield
it to control and eliminate your fears.
You Are In Control
On one side of a sheet of paper, list the cause of your fear, and
on the other side, list all the positive actions you can take to
resist or negate the fear. Rather than allowing the fear to control
you, you will be allowing your thinking to control your fear.
Be A Serve Person
If you are in sales, and you believe that people just are not buying,
could it be that you are more interested in selling, than you are
in serving? Your customers also experience cougars in their lives.
Your job as a sales person (or as a serve person) is to not take
their money and run, but to help those customers tame their wild
cats. Customers need you now more than ever. Your job is to convince
them that you are a solution to their problems, and not just another
expense.
Get In The Cage
So do not run away in the middle of the night. It is OK to bed
down in the woods. The possum is just playing cougar. If you become
proactive, instead of reactive, 95% of the things that you are worried
about will never happen. Get in the cage and take control.
© 2010 Joe Bonura & Associates, Inc.
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