We I'm working on transforming my mindset on how I view certain situations. It all goes back a few years to when I attended a seminar that fostered personal growth. As part of the seminar, attendees were encouraged to come to microphones, at the front of the room, to share their experiences and breakthroughs. Every third person that came to the front, would start their sharing by saying something like this, "I'm really nervous right now".... or "my heart is really pumping."
Each time words like these were uttered, the seminar leader would respond by reminding everyone that feeling your heart pumping was good...means you're still alive. Then he say that the sensations we categorized as fear was just our internal blood & guts. It's not actually fear but we label it as such. I felt like his explanation helped to remove some of the edge of talking in front of a large crowd of strangers. But I've since upgraded my level of thinking to something even more powerful.
I'm of the firm belief that "fear sensations" which we typically view as a sign of impeding danger or an uncomfortable situation, is actually the exact opposite. What if, the feelings of nervousness doesn't actually mean that we should avoid, what if that is a signal for us to pursue? To conquer!
Once upon a time, my voice would practically crack whenever I spoke to a small group of people. My mind became flooded with sensations of fear and angst. I shrunk whenever everyone turned their attention to me. But instead of avoiding that experience, I decided to run directly towards it. And when I say run, I mean run. I chose projects that would require me to present solo in front a couple hundred or more attendees. My philosophy was to completely annihilate the "fear feelings" so speaking in front of 500 people felt just as comfortable as having a 1 on 1 conversation. There was a little more to my process of overcoming shyness which I may elaborate on next Monday.
The point I'd really like to you take away with you today is that situations which you are avoiding because of "fear feelings "(i.e blood and guts moving around), are holding you back from experiencing a world of potential. Instead of limiting yoursel, interpret those feelings as a signal for you to move! To head directly into the direction of the "fear."
Our minds gives us the desire to follow our dreams, then it produces strange sensations in our body whenever we think about taking action. Once we feel the sensations, we stop. But what if our body is saying "Go!" " This is where we need to go!" What if we've been wrong about how to act in the face of fear? I ask you to examine the areas of your life where you are stagnant. Ask yourself, should I really avoid this because it will cause harm to myself or my family? Or am I avoiding it because I want to play small?
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I don't often have to speak in front of large groups of people, but I do on occasion lead meetings and trainings. I've had to do it for years and my voice continues to crack at the beginning of every presentation and my accent comes on thick and heavy. What I have learned to do is to start every presentation with the same statement - don't mind my nervousness, and I'm not about to cry, I'm really just excited to be here and will get over it soon, and if my accent gets to heavy, let me know.
ReplyDeleteThe audience usually roars with laughter and we proceed successfully.