Fear and the fear of pain or failure are the things that hold most people back in life and business.
As leaders, we can’t let that hold us back, or we’ll end up letting everyone in our lives down.
I’ve seen this in my own life, my friends, and I don’t want that for you.
I want to make sure that I really just expose some light on just how massive this fear thing is and what it can mean for us.
As driven leaders, as driven entrepreneurs, as managers, or whatever capacity you’re coming to the game, I want to help you in today’s article.
We’re going to tackle how to eliminate fear.
Let’s dive in and change our lives.
The Big Question
Who has fear? What has fear?
Just let that land for a minute and answer that in your mind.
Here’s what has fear.
Here’s where fear shows up today.
I want to give you three actions to help eliminate that fear.
I want you also to realize that if you have fear at times, that is OK.
Not only is that OK, my friend, but that is also 100% natural; it’s a necessary part of life.
I want you to realize that fear’s a component; fear is an ingredient in the recipe of your success as long as we manage it and then eliminate it when it’s not serving us.
When we’ve learned what we can from it, it no longer serves a purpose.
What’s your answer? Who has fear?
Fear Is Natural
Let’s go into the ocean for a moment.
Who has fear in the ocean?
Everything does. From the smallest plankton to the biggest whales and predators, everything has some kind of fear.
For the prey, it’s the fear of the predator.
For the predators, it’s the fear of competition for mating or fear of bigger predators.
I don’t claim to be book smart or “traditionally” well-educated, but I think we can all accept that.
Everything has fear as a part of who we are on this planet.
Certain fears are built into our psyche, built into our persona, built into our physicality, and all these different things to try to stay alive and survive and thrive in the environment that we have.
Let’s go on land.
If we go to the jungle, everything in the jungle has different levels of fear.
There are different predators, different things.
When I was in Costa Rica, we were looking at the sloth, and you go, “Oh, what a cute little sloth.”
They move so slow, and they’re just sitting there and doing their thing, but they better watch out for eagles or massive hawks that’ll come down and snatch them out of the tree.
Or if a baby falls and the mama can’t find it.
Everything in the jungle has fear at different times.
And until maybe you make it all the way up the food chain, and then guess what?
That has a fear that it isn’t going to have enough food and make sure that it survives or mates. It’s a different fear.
There are different levels of fear at different times.
Fear As Leaders
Now, what about us as driven-minded leaders? What about us as humans?
If you think about who has fear around you and your life, how about you?
How about your team?
How about your suppliers?
If you go get a loan, you have a fear that you’re not going to be approved for the loan.
Perhaps your banker has fear.
If they approve you for the loan, they’re going to get paid, right?
I’m afraid my taxes are gonna go up.
So you have fear around politics or whatever.
The politicians have a fear that they’re going to get the support necessary and get reelected and get their bills passed and different things.
It really hit me recently when I was coaching a client on how to perform an interview and certain questions to ask certain ways to smoke out reality.
We can’t and shouldn’t ask certain things in an interview, but at the same time, we have fear we’ll miss hiring the right candidate or hire the wrong one.
I was also talking to somebody who was recently looking for a new job and was going through the interview process.
And that person had a fear of being interviewed and what they were going to do.
Fear Is Everywhere
Fear is everywhere, my friends. At all different levels and types depending on your situation.
I turned to my lovely wife, Christy, and I said that.
And I hear you now, folks.
You’re a coach and CEO of multiple businesses with decades of experience; this is easy for you to say. You probably don’t even have any fear; I want to be like you.
Are you kidding me?
I’m a person. I have fear, too; it’s just different than you because our situations are different.
I have a fear that my top directors and leaders are going to accept jobs elsewhere.
Now, I know they’re happy where they’re at, but people leave when they see other opportunities, and I don’t blame them.
But it’s a fear of mine.
What if I lose the team of mine that helps my goals become a reality?
What if I lose my top salespeople, managers, editors, and different things?
I have fear around that.
We’re all running around scared, friends.
But let’s eliminate this.
That’s what I’m here to do today.
Certainty And Uncertainty Coexisting
Let’s think through this; let’s talk through this because there are two things, and they coexist:
- Certainty
- Uncertainty
I know, you don’t believe me, right?
As we move forward, as we think through things, as we look at the clarity and we try to get different things, there are all different types of I’m certainty about something.
I would say many people have a good, not a lot in some cases, but a good amount of certainty, especially if we’re blessed with some financial stability.
We know where our next meal is coming from. We know where we go home to.
There’s a job we wake up to every day and go work and kill it out there.
And then the next thing you know, the world hands you uncertainty.
If I’m not sure about something, then I’m going to have uncertainty about it.
Fear is about the uncertainty or the fear that our certainty will be taken away.
How To Eliminate Fear: 3 Keys
In my life spent dealing with fear and helping thousands of leaders eliminate their own fears, I’ve discovered 3 simple yet powerful keys that will reduce it and help you deal with it.
They are clarity, transparency, and consistency.
I want you to think globally around this topic today, and I want you to really embrace this whole eliminating fear and using these three actions.
I’m going to dive into each one a little bit deeper in a moment but think about this in your own personal life.
By the way, when I talk about personal and business life, to me, there’s not a huge distinction. I’m not saying you’re afraid your spouse isn’t going to her sales numbers like you are at work, but what I’m saying is that we are just one person.
That whole leave work at the door thing is largely a fallacy.
We carry everything with us unless we process it, learn from it, and move on.
And that’s part of what I’m talking about with this today.
So as we look at these, apply these keys to both sides of your life because guess what? It’s just one life, my friends.
Your life.
And I don’t want you to let fear ruin it.
#1 Clarity
We begin with clarity; all things begin with clarity.
It’s the first dimension in the Six Dimensions of Change, 2.0.
If you haven’t read it, grab it on Audible or whatever.
When we think about clarity in the fear elimination, really a lot of fear comes from not really knowing what you want, what you need, or where you’re going.
I can eliminate fear when I step up and go,
“I know exactly who I am and what I want, and I know exactly when I’m speaking the truth.”
When things and the world knock you off your path, add some uncertainty, clarity will get you through it.
If you know what you want and who you really are, it’s just a matter of course correcting.
What do you really want as a leader?
Why did you become a leader?
And are you executing the things that drove you to become that leader?
What do you really want from your life?
Do people know exactly who you are and what you want?
Clarity begins with us, and then it goes from the communication of them really beginning to understand.
#2 Transparency
I’ve got to be transparent. I work to live my life by the “No B.S.” rule.
What I want is what I want.
And I want what I want because that’s what I want.
That frustrates some people, and some people can resonate with that.
That’s OK.
I’m not asking them to change who they are.
I’m just honoring my truth.
It’s OK to know what you want in life and be clear about it. That’s the clarity piece.
But if you aren’t transparent and upfront about what you’ve achieved clarity on, it won’t be communicated and cause problems.
Then those problems will cause fear.
Want whatever you want, and don’t be afraid to own it.,
As long as I’m being a productive citizen of society, as long as I’m creating incredible jobs, as long as I’m creating amazing, loving relationships, as long as I’m making the world a better place, as long as I’m living my primary purpose and improving the lives of others while I’m learning and growing and becoming all that I can every single day on this planet, then I don’t need to apologize for wanting what I want.
And so being transparent with others, living kind of by a “No B.S.” rule is critical.
I’m not big on corporate or “boardroom” communication.
It’s not that I’m not a fan of corporations.
I love big corporations.
We work with massive companies all the time.
We’re scaling Blue Collar very quickly.
We’re adding incredible talent all the time and growing our team, and we’re becoming a bigger business.
I’m not asking you to be a small business here, though that’s fine if that’s what you want.
I’m trying to be an effective business.
And effective communication comes from transparency.
That’s one of the keys to leadership and good business.
It also conquers fear because it roots out where the fear comes from, the uncertainty and the confusion.
#3 Consistency
The world responds to consistency, period.
Whether it’s good, whether it’s bad, whether it’s positive, whether it’s negative, whatever that is, people crave consistency.
We’ve all heard leaders say things like, “Well, you never know what you’re going to get.”
Duh.
The world’s not consistent.
But who you are and how you respond to life, and how you choose to be a leader and live up to your purpose can be and should be.
Those people who say that life is full of surprises like it’s some wise thing are full of fluff.
They either want to excuse giving into the fear of the unknown, or they’re trying to sell you on their wisdom.
Wisdom and power come from the application of knowledge and choosing to act every day, my friends.
I don’t mess around. My onstage and my backstage persona are the same.
What you see is what you get with me.
And I’m that way every time, or at least I try to be.
I regulate myself emotionally as much as I can by journaling and meditating.
I’ve sought clarity on myself and my goals for the business, and I communicate this with transparency.
Now I am this way with as much consistency as I can muster.
And you know what?
It provides a bastion of certainty when things get uncertain.
And this eliminates fear.
But it’d never get here if all three weren’t in place.
Final Thoughts
Fear is a part of what it means to be alive, but we, as leaders, need to manage it and mitigate it to the point where it doesn’t dominate and ruin our lives and businesses.
We get there through three simple steps that are tough to do in practice.
But my friends, when you get it down and choose it every day, it makes a world of difference.
Seek clarity on what you want and who you are, be transparent and communicate what you know, and then live that version of you as consistently as possible.
In this way, we inject certainty into an uncertain world and reduce or get rid of our fears.
This leaves us room to step into our greatness and explode the world with our growth and our team’s growth.
I want that for you. I can see that you want it to.
Go get it, and make it a better-than-fantastic week!