Episode14Transcript_Getting Past Fear of the Unknown

 

Last week, we kicked off a new series on Being Stuck.

In last week’s episode, we looked at it at a high level and from the perspective of how ‘staying stuck’ is soothing you or making you feel better.

I thought that was an interesting way to look at it because most of the time when we talk about being stuck or getting unstuck, we look at “how” to do it.

I started this series by talking about how staying stuck might be serving you. 

And not serving you in that staying stuck is going to get you where we need to go. It’s not.

But instead, how staying stuck is a technique we use to avoid discomfort. 

Staying stuck makes us feel better. Calmer. In control. 

And given the pace of change today, I think more and more people are living stuck. 

It’s a choice we make. Sometimes it doesn’t FEEL like a choice. But it IS a choice. 

A choice we make so we can FEEL better.

We’re going to be talking about it all through April.

But in each of the next four episodes, we’re going to take one reason we get stuck and we’re going to go deep. 

We’re going to examine stuck-ness and look at how we get there. 

Because it’s about how our BRAIN works.

As you know, on this podcast and in my business, we look at how to build a meaningful career from the inside out. And I know this is different from a lot of other business and career coaches. 

But what I know for sure is that having an amazing career. One that is meaningful and aligned with what you REALLY want. And one that plays well with and complements your life, is about mastering the art of how you think.

It’s about overcoming our insecurities and irrational fears and false or limiting beliefs and training our brain to instead think powerful, confident thoughts that serve you and are aligned with where you want to go.

And this will transform everything about your career and life – relationships, achievements, satisfaction, skills, possibilities – and so much more. 

But today, we’re going to tackle something that affects so many of us and that is the Fear of the Unknown.

Because this is one of the big reasons people choose to stay stuck. Choose to put their dreams aside.

For me, this is a topic that’s near and dear to my heart because I’ve experienced it first-hand.

I know that when people who know me look at my journey from the outside, hearing me say that I’ve struggled with Fear of the Unknown kind of doesn’t make sense. 

After all, the golden thread that runs through my life is CHANGE.

I claim to LOVE change.

And I do.

But the truth is, I like change on MY terms.

When I can control it.

When I believe I’m in charge of whatever change is happening and can vet what’s coming and DECIDE that I feel comfortable with it.

And my life is proof of that.

I started as a hairstylist paying my own way through a private college and over the next twenty years, I became a multi-six figure-earning corporate brand strategist.  Along the way, I lived in 10 different cities and I’ve lost track of the number of houses I’ve bought. 

So I really believed I was ALL ABOUT change. 

I told myself and others that I loved it. And I could kind of never relate when people said they were afraid of it.

So, imagine my surprise when I had an idea for my business – way back in 2011 by the way – and then found myself struggling get the courage to finally DO IT.

And as I began to explore the whys behind that, I had to face the truth. 

I was afraid to make the move to entrepreneur.  Well, let’s just say that I finally got the whole “being stuck” thing. And I came to understand – at a very deep level – what it felt like to really FEEL that fear of the unknown. 

If you can relate to this, you’ll find this a very helpful episode.