Breathe It Out: Conquering the Nine Fears That Are Holding You Back

By Tina Thorson

We all have great reasons for avoiding big decisions:
"I'm too old!"
"I've got too many commitments at work!"
"I can't do that - I don't have the education!"
"My spouse will NEVER go for that."

And what do these great excuses have in common? They are all based in FEAR. No matter what you tell yourself, no matter how you justify your decision to sit on the sidelines - you are being controlled by fear. It's time to stop that, and stop it NOW.

In "Breathe It Out: Conquering The Nine Fears That Are Holding You Back," author Tina Thorson guides you through a series of action steps to help you identify the root cause of your excuse, conquer it, and live the life you've always wanted. You'll learn how to evaluate your progress, how to determine when you need to change course, and most importantly, how to be at peace with your decisions.

You've got one life. Don't let fear live it for you. It's time to BREATHE IT OUT.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Sep 23, 2017
• ISBN: 9781543910667

Book preview

Out.

Reason #1 -

I can’t do this because I don’t have the right background or education.

What You Are Really Saying - I don’t want to try because I’m afraid people will mock my lack of education and life experience.

This excuse seems perfectly plausible on its face. In fact, there are many times when it does hold up-if you didn’t go to medical school and get licensed, you can’t open up a clinic tomorrow and start practicing medicine, for example.

What about these scenarios - are they equally valid?

I can’t help my kids with their homework, math is so different now than it was when I was a kid!

I don’t want to try that Thai restaurant because I don’t know how to order off the weird menu.

I won’t apply for that job because it’s in marketing, and I don’t have a business degree.

Given the access that you and I have to information, much of which is free and immediate, can we still cling to the excuse of ignorance? Or, are we perhaps embracing our lack of knowledge to get us out of making certain decisions, which might result in others viewing us in a negative light? Are you and I, both of us GAA (Grown-Ass Adults), so caught up in what other people may think or voice about us, that we decide we’d rather live with our heads in the sand than to face a little ridicule by branching out and trying something a little new, a little different?

Yes, it’s safe in your little world. I completely understand that. We’ve surrounded ourselves with things, ideas, and people that we know and understand…why screw with that? I’ll tell you why. Because it’s worth it, and because you deserve to experience everything you possibly can, while you still have the physical ability to do so. You can’t even imagine what you are missing out on by limiting yourself only to options with which you are familiar, at your current age. Just take a moment and think…what if you decided that, for the rest of your life, you wouldn’t learn, try or do anything that you weren’t already familiar with when you were 16 years old? That would be idiotic, right? Imagine all the life that you HADN’T experienced yet, when you made so final a statement. So why is it okay to adopt that attitude at 30…40…75?

Not every new experience that you’ve been avoiding is massive, life-altering, or laden with emotional distress. In fact, most aren’t, which makes this excuse even more (frankly) ridiculous. Here’s an example of such from my own life: up until two years ago, I’d never tried pho. I’d never even heard of it, other than to see a half-dozen signs on restaurants along Division proclaiming that its proprietors made The World’s Best Pho. Then, one fateful day, I had lunch with a few friends at a pho restaurant, and I didn’t wuss out and order the almond chicken. I went full-on pho. Now, I can’t get enough. I eat it probably three times a week. Your metaphoric pho is out there, just waiting for you to