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How to Do What you Fear

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Last week, in the Artist’s EDGE Membership Q&A call, I fielded an interesting question about procrastination.

How do you get yourself to do the things you’re afraid to do?

It’s one thing to take the BIG SCARY steps.  You can work yourself up to take those actions, holding your breath and leaping.  But what about the day-to-day things, the small scary steps?  How do you motivate yourself each and every day to take those small steps which feel so hard?

It’s been said, “Do what you fear, until you fear it no more.”  And it’s true that repetition of a feared action will lessen your fear of it.  But how do you get started?  How do you get yourself to do it, over and over, while it still feels scary and hard?  This requires a different kind of courage.  This brand of courage requires perseverance and tenacity and a certain kind of stubbornness.

Here are a few tricks that work for me:

  1. Focus on the bigger picture. If I’m making marketing calls and I focus on the result of this one call – it can look really scary.  What if this person says “no” to me!?!  But if I focus on my vision or goal – then this one person will not make or break my career.  It helps to put things into perspective.
  2. Set a specific time and a time limit for the actions. I will make marketing calls from 1:00PM until 2:00PM.  I can get through one hour of this, right?  If I’m going to a networking event (and I get shy in large groups of people), I’ll say to myself, I only have to stay for a half-hour.  Having a time limit really helps!
  3. Remember – your fears are rarely the truth (false expectations appearing real). Remind yourself of the last time you did that thing and how it wasn’t nearly as hard or scary to actually take the action as your imagination made it out to be.  The reality is almost never as bad as we fear.  Reminding yourself of reality definitely helps.

Just like writing this blog post – not so hard, right?  Phew!

Goals That Get Results

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Artists MBA, Foundation ProgramGoal setting is a skill critical to creating success in any area of your life. But expressing what you want in your life in a goal that really works can be a complex and challenging process.

Because its not just about writing what we want.  Setting goals brings up all kinds of challenges for people because of past failures and future uncertainties.

Trying to move forward without a goal creates confusion, overwhelm and burn-out.

“If you want to be happy, set a goal that commands your thoughts, liberates your energy, and inspires your hopes.”
– Andrew Carnegie

In this class you will learn:

  • The common obstacles to setting goals
  • The common mistakes that lead to poorly written goals
  • How to zoom in on what you want and make powerful, specific and truly inspiring goals
  • What to do once you have those powerful and inspiring goals.

With a solid, specific and inspiring goal, you will be empowered to move past your obstacles, stay on track when distractions beckon and be able celebrate your wins.

Additional Resources for this Class:

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Your Tuition ($5 for first 14 days then $39 per month) includes all Foundation level classes PLUS the Time Management Mastery Course & App.

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The Law of Attraction – Truth or Fiction?

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In the last year, The Secret has brought the Universal Law of Attraction into the awareness of the broad public mind. But for some of us, this was no secret. Whether you loved the movie or hated it (and I had both visceral reactions), there is no denial that The Secret movie has raised awareness of the universal principle — the Law of Attraction. And I am truly grateful for that.

I Create My Reality

First let me confess to my own bias. I have known about this “Secret” for as long as I can remember. I have always believed I create my reality. So, I’ll be discussing the Law of Attraction from the point of view that it is reality and the awareness that you may not agree with my belief. I hope that you will continue to read anyway and be open.

For those of you who haven’t seen the movie, a quick review. The Law of Attraction states that everything you have or have ever had in your life you drew into your life. You created your life, the good, the bad, the indifferent. You create your life through your thoughts and beliefs energized by your emotions. Now, I know that this idea freaks a lot of people out. Does a child create being abused? Did 3000 people create 9/11? Is it my fault I’m sick?

Yes and no. The Law of Attraction basically means that each thought sends out a vibration that attracts a reality in agreement with that vibration. The more emotion you imbue a thought with the stronger the magnet becomes. The more directed, focused and repetitious a thought is, the stronger it’s attractive energy. So if you are having negative thoughts that are energized by negative emotions that’s what you’re attracting. And for those people who don’t have much focus or intention behind their thoughts, what they attract can be very random, because the vibration is random.

Is this true? Is it just New Age woo-woo? You know where I stand in this. And I have had a lot of experiences that bear it out. Let’s just take parking spots, for example. I am a master at manifesting parking spots. From the time I lived in Brooklyn with a car, I played with this phenomenon. If I decided that I would find a parking spot, I would. But if I thought, “Oh, it’s late, it’s going to be hard to find a parking spot.” Guess, what? I wouldn’t find one. Every time! Is it magic? No, it’s the Law of Attraction.

Intentional Creation – Action vs. Visualization

So, what does that mean in your life? Can you control your thoughts every minute of every day? No way! But you can become more aware of your thoughts. You can notice how you’re feeling and what you’re thinking and in that moment, choose to think about what you are intentionally creating in your life.

But does that mean you never have to take action? Can you just sit on your couch, day after day, imagining your success and have it magically appear? Probably not. You see, your mind is very literal. It looks at what you’re doing and decides what it will believe. If it sees you sitting on the couch all day, it’s NOT going to believe that you will be successful. And those doubts will undermine every empowering visualization you have on that couch. So, spend 15 minutes visualizing on the couch and then get into action!

The Law of Attraction without Action is just the Law of Attr

What Have You Got to Lose?

Look, just play with it. Whether you believe it or don’t believe it. What harm could experimenting with it do? Instead of focusing on what you don’t have, focus on how grateful you are for what you do have and how you’re creating what you want. Have fun imagining your abundant successful life. Imbue that vision with joy and gratitude. Seriously, what have you got to lose?