Harness Your Fears

Working in sales and leadership is professional development on steroids.

Every day we have the opportunity to step outside our comfort zone and play a bigger game. Beyond our comfort zone is where growth happens.

It's like going to the gym. When we push our bodies beyond the pain barrier (within reason), our muscles respond and grow. The difference is, in our working lives it's emotional pain - not physical pain - that we need to conquer. It's fear.

Fear of rejection, fear of negative reactions, fear of looking stupid, fear of being found out as an imposter, fear of blowing a big opportunity, fear of damaging your reputation, fear of asking for help, fear of change, fear of failure, fear of success….

Fear comes in many forms. However, according to psychologists, it can be boiled down into two things: the physical and the psychological.

The Physical - The physical aspect of fear is the sensation in our bodies. Whether it's butterflies in our stomachs, a tightening in our chest, or hot flushes around our neck - the sensation is real. We feel it.

The Psychological - The psychological aspect of fear is the stories we tell ourselves around what the feeling means. The stories are mostly just stories. Not real. Fake news.

The key to overcoming fear is to feel the feeling and change the story.

When the psychological aspect of fear takes over, we make mountains out of molehills, blow things out of proportion and become smaller versions of ourselves.

When we embrace our fears, we experience a massive release of positive energy afterwards. We discover that "we can do it", we feel liberated, our confidence builds, and we grow.

By changing our relationship with the feeling - we make fear our friend. We lean into it rather than run away from it. It becomes a signpost for success. An opportunity to become better.

I'm interested in your thoughts — what fears are you going to harness today?

Mark Windust is an influential Thought Leader in the areas of Sales Strategy, Sales Leadership and Sales Performance. Since launching his consulting practice in 2007, Mark has worked with 1000's of business leaders, salespeople and entrepreneurs’ to help them transform their sales results.