I’m in the middle of a new blog series I’m calling, “The 7 Invisible Qualities You Need To See Your Business Succeed In A Recession”.
But today, I’m going to interrupt our regularly scheduled blog programming because I need to talk to you about something BEFORE I talk about the 5 invisible qualities that are left.
Today I want to talk with you about the MAJOR Barrier that keeps us from taking action and therefore keeps us from succeeding (in a recession or not).
The strangest thing about this barrier is that the majority of the time it’s not even real!
Yes! A major barrier to success in our lives many times comes from something that doesn’t even exist!
Let me tell you a story to explain….
“Daddy! There’s a monster under the bed!”
When my oldest son was 2 years and 4 months old (by the way, he’s 8 now!) he began to have trouble going to sleep at night. I asked him, “What’s wrong?” And he said, “Daddy! There’s a monster under the bed!” I was totally surprised. I couldn’t believe that he already was dealing with this.
I tried to explain to him that there wasn’t any monsters under the bed. We even turned on the lights and looked together. He seemed ok, so I turned off the light again and left.
A few minutes later he came running out saying, “Daddy! There’s a monster!” I went with him and asked him, “Where?”
This time he pointed to his bookcase and said, “Over there, Daddy!” I turned the lights on and tried to explain to him again that there weren’t any monsters.
That was a long time ago. Thankfully we’re through that phase. 🙂
When stuff like this happens we smile and think, “How funny it is for kids to be scared of monsters in the dark!”
But here’s where we get to laugh at ourselves… (You knew this was coming. Didn’t you?)
Why? Because the MAJOR BARRIER that keeps us from succeeding is the same thing!
We’re kept from taking action and applying the truth we know because *WE’RE AFRAID OF “MONSTERS”!
Now you might be thinking, “What’s he talking about? I’m not afraid of monsters!”
Oh really? 🙂
3 of the monsters we’re afraid of and that keep us from taking action have names like:
- “FAILURE”
- “REJECTION”
- “UNKNOWN”
You and I might not be afraid of literal monsters anymore, but MOST of the things that we’re afraid of are NO MORE REAL than the monsters my little boy was afraid of!
The things we’re afraid of — the things we worry about — are usually only in our heads!!
Did you know that most people worry about things that NEVER HAPPEN!?!
Mental Patient Mentality
We’re like the patient in a mental hospital who had his ear close to the wall, listenly closely. A staff person finally went up to him to see what was going on. The patient whispered, “Sh!” and motioned for the staff person to come over there. The staff person put his ear against the wall for a long time. Finally he said to the patient, “I can’t hear a thing! Can you?” The patient replied, “No! It’s been like that all day!”
We sit around in fear waiting for something that doesn’t happen! We plan our lives (or change our plans) based on something that will probably never happen! We decide to never take action, because of what COULD happen if we do!
Somebody once said, “Worry is the advance interest you pay on troubles that seldom come.”
According to a man named Ken Anderson, nine times out of ten, the worrying about something does more damage to the one who worries than the thing he or she is worrying about.
Worry is a killer — literally!
I’d bet that one of the reasons some people aren’t succeeding more during this recession is because they’re afraid.
They come up with an idea and a plan but then they think…
“But I’ve never done this before! I don’t know what will happen if I do this!” (Fear of unknown)
“What if I try it and it doesn’t work?” (Fear of failure)
“What will people think if this idea is a failure?” (Fear of rejection)
Listen.
I’m not judging you or trying to say, “I got it all together!” I’m NOT sharing these thoughts with you to make you feel stupid, but to show you how illogical our fears that hold us back are!
I WANT you to succeed!
Let me be real with you…
I ALMOST didn’t interview the first 18 experts for my e-manuals, “How Your Business Can Survive And Prosper In A Recession“
Why? Because back then I was scared.
But I used one of the most powerful weapons to defeat fear… I took action — in spite of my fear!
A Cherokee indian man named Sequichie Comingdeer said, “The death of fear is in doing what you fear to do.” I think it was Brian Tracy who said, “Purposeful action is the only cure for worry!”
That’s your first step for NOW! Get mad enough to take action in spite of your fears of the recession! (Be wise in your action. Know effective methods to use. Analyze the real situation you’re in. But then take some action.)
Now that we got this out of the way I’ll continue with our “The 7 Invisible Qualities You Need To See Your Business Succeed In A Recession” series tomorrow.
In the meantime, subscribe to this blog at the upper right or follow me on twitter, so you can get the update on when the next post is up!
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I’m a business strategist, consultant, content creation specialist, and speaker. I’ve been studying effective marketing and business methods (both online and offline) since 1999.
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