Want To Be A Better Person? Start With The Stuff That Scares You
Facing your fears is the hardest thing to do. No matter how tough you are, how rich or poor or how confident you appear, everyone is afraid of something. And being genuinely afraid of stuff is what makes us human. But when we’re really afraid of something, somehow our fears get in the way of where we are right now but, more importantly, we prevent ourselves from becoming the person we’re meant to be.
Life is about growth. Parents get so excited when their babies get new teeth, new hair and when they get taller. But we have to remember that growth doesn’t stop when we’re 21 or 29. Growth is a life-long process, one where you discover your strengths and weaknesses, seriously doubt your strengths and weaknesses, and where you continue to learn things about yourself you didn’t already know. What’s the point of living life without having spiritual, personal, and intellectual growth?
But that’s the problem with fear. Fear stunts our growth, because a fear is nothing more than your body protecting itself against unknown risks or variables. Fear keeps us safe, or so we think. It’s you telling yourself you can’t do it, you shouldn’t do it, that you’ve never done it before or that you just know you won’t like it.
There are three kinds of people in the world:
1. People are okay with just getting by, who don’t want to stand out, who are fine following all the rules.
2. People who throw caution to the wind, who do whatever they’re going to do and worry about the consequences later.
3. To me, the most interesting kind of person though is this third type of person, the one who is fine being safe but would really love to venture out, try new things and face their fears. But they don’t know how. And there’s just something that prevents them from taking it there, from doing what it is they really want to do.
That’s the power of fear.
The thing is, the most successful people in the world are almost always the folks who have strange ideas and who take bold risks. They do things they know they have no business doing. That’s because playing it safe can only get you so far. Risk takers are the people who were told their dreams were impossible, that nobody has ever done what they want to do before, that they should just quit while they’re ahead.
But that’s bad advice. How can you ever win anything in life if you don’t place a bet on your own happiness? If you don’t place a bet on your own success?
Facing your fears is hard work. It will be terrifying, uncomfortable, and you might want to give up. Hell, you might even literally give up, finding comfort in where you are and not seeing the point of pushing yourself further. But anything worth the joy it brings you is also worth the pain and fear that is inevitably wrapped up in it.
Take risks, face your fears, so you can really invest in the person you’re meant to be.