Fearless Living in a Fearful WorldAs a personal and professional coach, I have often used Stephen Covey's visualization exercise with my clients to help them discern and discover their life's purpose. In this exercise, Covey asks you to imagine you are walking into a funeral service. You notice the sight and lovely aroma of the beautiful flowers that were sent in honor of the deceased. You hear the quiet yet uplifting music. You see a large crowd of people whose lives were deeply touched and changed by the individual for whom the memorial service is being held. They are here to celebrate the life of one who meant so much to them. You walk to the front of the room to gaze upon the mortal body of the deceased. You look inside the casket and you are shocked. The body lying in the casket is yours! You suddenly realize that you are at your own funeral service. The flowers were sent inyourhonor. The throng is gathered to remember the profound impactyou hadon their lives. As you sit down and look at the funeral program, you notice three speakers are scheduled to talk about your life. Covey asks you to dream about what you would want each of the speakers to say about you. What would you want your family to say? Your coworkers? Your friends? How would you want them to talk about the impact you made on their lives? This is a great way to "think with the end in mind". To identify what you are called to do with your life. To visualize the positive change you can make on the world and on individual lives. Now Enters the Fear Discerning and understanding your Divine calling is an exciting journey. It can be challenging but very rewarding to finally begin to understand the purpose for which you were created. Then, the work of living your life's calling begins. This is often where our future dreams experience a block. As I have worked with clients to move beyond this state of "being stuck", I have discovered that one of the key roadblocks for living our purpose isfear. Fear of failure, fear of what others will think of us, fear of our own success, fear of the unknown, and other fears can effectively keep us from living the life we were created to live. Moving beyond these fears can put us on track to living in the joy and light of being who we are meant to be. Moving Beyond the Block But how do we move beyond fear? How do we live fearlessly in a world that is so filled with fear? The first step is recognizing thatfearless people are not people who experience no fear; fearless people are those who experience fear but live fearlessly anyway. Read that last sentence again…it is a key point. I believe that if you asked highly successful people (those who live their life's calling) if they felt fear, the vast majority of them would acknowledge fear in their lives. But I am convinced they would tell you they have identified how to live fearlessly despite the fear. Here are five steps that can help you live fearlessly even when fear is within you.
Are You Ready? Are you ready to live fearlessly? Do not wait for fear to go away or you may arrive at your own funeral having never realized your unique purpose. Instead, focus on how to live your purpose despite the fear. Doing so can change your life and the world. |