Life Coaching Tip: Fear is often illogical, irrational, and primal, stoked from the scary beliefs you developed in your childhood when you were trying to make sense of the world. It can hold you back from what you want. However, you have the power to call out your own BS, challenge your mind-drama, and swiftly move forward...
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Passionate.
That’s the best word I can think of to describe our five-month-old puppy, Ginger’s, feelings about food.
She eats every meal as though it were her last, checks out all objects to see if they’re edible, and leaps over her sister, Mocha, to get to any food that hits the floor first every time.
And so, when I purchased a puppy “strategy game” that dispenses treats, I thought for sure that Ginger would master it lickety-split like a monkey on a cupcake!
As you can see from the picture, the toy has three beakers that we fill with food. The pups must learn to turn and flip the beakers to dispense the treats. There are a variety of levels of difficulty depending on the lid opening sizes, but Ginger still hasn’t even mastered the easiest one.
Why?
Well, it isn’t because she’s not intelligent enough to figure it out. She generally picks things up very quickly and is quite the smarty pants. (Yes, I’m a bit bias, but I speak the truth.)
And it’s not because she doesn’t like treats. As mentioned before, Ginger LOVES treats, food, and any other tasty tidbit she can get her paws on.
So, what’s the problem?
Ginger is afraid of the noise the food makes when it hits the ground.
Mocha, on the other hand, is not.
Occasionally, when in the mood, Mocha will walk past the toy and flip a beaker in passing. She’s not a big fan of food like her sister tends to be, and so she’s not motivated to do this very often.
But when she does, Ginger jumps into action and scurries around the room snatching up any delicious morsel she can grab, often before Mocha has a chance to react. This is another reason why Mocha isn’t terribly interested in the game and most of the time ignores it.
But Ginger doesn’t.
She would sit underneath it for hours if I let her, waiting patiently for a generous act of kindness from her sister or an act of God, I guess.
However, she will not flip a beaker herself.
Never.
When I try to show her how and “help” her with her paw, she freaks out.
It makes no sense, right?
She’s always standing next to it when Mocha hits it and the food falls. And the noise never stops her from snatching up the bounty.
One would think that at this point, history would tell her that the toy is safe and profitable.
Yet, she still hesitates.
Fear is like that.
It’s often illogical, irrational, and primal, stoked from the beliefs we developed in our childhood as we tried to make sense of the world.
These beliefs are stored in our subconscious mind and for the most part, we are completely oblivious to them.
The subconscious mind is all about feelings and instincts and is non-analytical. Yet, it’s very powerful. It rules the roost, even though our conscious mind IS logical and analytical.
Like Ginger, it can hold you back from what you want.
It can hold you back from…
- Starting the business.
- Going on the date.
- Leaving the unfulfilling job.
- Giving the presentation
- Writing the book.
This may be true, even though, like Ginger, you see other people successfully doing these things. Your conscious mind knows there is nothing to actually fear, yet you still feel paralyzed and stuck.
If this is you, here’s the good news…
You can call out your own BS. You can challenge your subconscious mind’s drama with intentional thoughts and actions that align with your goals and move forward.
Don’t follow Ginger’s example.
What you want is available to you right now, my friend.
Your bounty is waiting.
You just have to tip the damn beaker!
PS: Having the encouragement and support of other women who are also taking big leaps forward is a sure-fire way to kick your fear to the curb! This is precisely why I created the Shine On! Program – for women, like you! Click here for more details.
Take It Down a Notch: Your Words Create Your Results