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Fear is the only thing holding you back…

Harnessing emotions for a more successful career

Thanks to Richard Ward, social media & marketing executive at premier marketing and media recruitment consultancy, Lipton Fleming, for this alternative take on personal and career development:

Recently I read an article on ‘fear’, which stated the 12 top types of fear and what/where they generally stem from. An example of this would be “Fear of failure – This type of fear has its roots in the misconception that everything you do has to be 100% successful.”

I object to fear for the most part, anything thought in this vein is an excuse. Now you may think A) that’s quite brash and B) very general, but if you remove your objections for one moment and look at the title of this piece you may begin to understand where I am coming from. I feel personally that fear is the only thing capable of holding you back from achievement because within reason (physical / mental / monetary) there is nothing that can hold you back.

Let’s put this all into perspective – if you fear ‘failure’ you may not allow yourself to make a mistake by taking a step, which may or may not enable you to go further, working on the proviso that either way ‘the step’ is in the right direction, you eliminate the fear! If you succeed you step forward, if you fail you have the knowledge of what to avoid when stepping forward and have the ability to try again.

As my MD always says ‘we are human’ no one is perfect, which is so true. Now I’m not saying you should lower your standards or work half-heartedly but you should equip yourself with the knowledge that ‘fear is the only thing holding you back’, remove the fear and enable the dream. The best remedy to remove fear is to take action, whenever you feel you’re in a situation and fearful of the outcome, remember the statement ‘fear is the only thing holding you back’. Then logically evaluate the situation by remembering the Dr Pepper strap line and asking the question “what’s the worst that can happen?” I guarantee that 9 times out of 10, if you think laterally you will be able to move forward, progress and go on to achieve.

Don’t let the fear that holds you back, be the fear that keeps you on track. Treat this like a reverse Jim Carey ‘Yes Man’ situation and say no to fear every time. Try it for a month and see if it doesn’t start to change the world you live in.

Good luck, god speed and go without fear…

@LiptonFleming