FEAR is the number one reason that people never
achieve their breakthrough to success. Yes, we can blame other
people for not giving us the chance. We can lament that we took the
wrong course. We can express concern about the uncertainty of
obtaining that success, and maybe, just maybe I'll look stupid.
In short, our fear comes down to two enemies. Our
uncertain future and our excuses from the past. Or. More simply:
"what if" and "If only".
 
What if/If only
When you have a goal worth achieving, you will need
to achieve breakthroughs.
Breakthroughs that take you outside of your comfort
zone and going outside your comfort zone is fearful.
 
So what can you do to ensure that you create the
necessary breakthroughs that will lead to your dramatic
transformation?
And we have to conquer two enemies: “What if” and “If
Only”
And each requires you to do two things:
Take courage
Get off your ‘but’
 
Take courage
Let me share a brief personal story:
Known as the Swiss Wall, La Chavanette at Avoriaz is
one of the most dangerous ski slopes in the world.
It is a disturbingly steep, mogul run and the slope
gets icy quickly, turning the area between moguls into ice sheets.
Not making a turn in these situations means that you miss the next
mogul, and pick up too much speed to make the next one after that,
starting off a tumble that ends a couple of hundred metres down the
slope, while hitting a few dozen icy bumps in the course.
 
A number of years ago, as a reasonable, but by no
means good skier, I decided that I just had to conquer this
slope.
Why? Well, I can only now think that it was a moment
of sheer madness. At the time, however, I just wanted to prove to
myself that I could do it.
 
Standing at the top of the slope, I looked down the
40 degree slope with considerable fear mixed with trepidation,
mixed with determination and a whole lot of cortisol and adrenaline
pumping through my body.
I took about 5 minutes to muster up the courage. To
launch myself off the edge.
 
It was exhausting, knee jangling, hard concentrated
deliberate movements. Desperately remembering to keep my weight
down the hill and my edges as loose as I dared. Turn after turn
after turn after turn. Around one mogul, push off, turn, shift
weight, edge, again and again and again. Endorphins took over from
the adrenaline to mask the pain in my legs and screaming lungs.
 
Finally, after what seemed an eternity, I arrived at
the bottom of the slope. My legs like jelly, my heart racing tears
from the icy wind streaming down my face. Every fibre of my body
was pulsing with electricity and sheer, unbounded joy as dopamine
filled my entire being. I was alive, I had done it. I hadn’t
fallen. I had conquered the wall.
 
I hadn’t been fast. It hadn’t been elegant. But it
had been me.
 
 
FEAR is the #1 issue when it comes to making a
personal breakthrough.
 
FEAR is what you FEEL when your Amygdala (the
emotional centre of your brain) considers that there is a threat to
you and signals the production of Cortisol.
Cortisol floods your blood stream and informs your
heart to beat faster, your lungs to pump faster, your legs and arms
to prepare to run or to fight and since all this demands energy,
your digestive system is shut down. What you FEEL is warmer, you’ll
perspire more due to the energy in your muscles and faster heart
beat. You have “butterflies” in your stomach as the digestive tract
is closed for business (heck who needs to digest food if you are
about to be eaten…
 
Only, you are not about to be eaten. It’s highly
likely that you are not about to die, nor about to get injured.
The amygdala response is a primitive and essential
trigger for survival. But it is very poor at distinguishing between
a real threat to life and limb, and one that might possibly hurt
your pride. It’s the same cortisol induced response.
Your amygdala is essentially like a sentry guard
checking the external environment and your own thinking process for
the slightest sign of a threat to you. It is a