FEAR

You may find it ironic – but fear is fearless. Fear will impose itself in virtually any situation or place. Fear often shows up when it is least expected. Simply put, we all experience fear at some point. Those who say they never experience fear are either lying to us or to themselves. In fairness, those people may simply not be able to acknowledge their fear.

Fear may be fearless but is fear a brand? For the sake of this blog it certainly is :). Here is how I define fear as a brand – it is a concept which is clearly distinguishable. A simple definition perhaps, but it works. SO fear is fearless and fear is a brand. Having put those two ideas together – here is the main concept I want you to take away from this read.

Fearless brands experience fear – what’s important is how they deal with it.

There is not one person that I have spoken with or researched in my Fearless Brand series that has not pointed out that they encounter fear. Dafna Michaelson Jenet was quick to make me aware of the fears she experiences. Perhaps the most notable is the fear she faced while making her decision to make her 50 in 52 Journey a reality. My brother David definitely experienced fear when circumstances resulting from his MS mandated that he make significant changes to his life – to his brand. Each of the Friday’s Fearless Brands move from fear to fearless quite often actually.

My friend and mentor and co-author of The Go-Giver Bob Burg has been speaking publicly  for years. Despite the many times he’s spoken, he has never gotten over the fear that hits him before a speaking engagement. He says that whether he’s speaking in front of 50 people or 15,000 people, the fear is there. Once his name is announced and he’s walking to the stage, he’s fine. But, until that time, he says it’s not nervousness; it’s fear.

How do these people handle those fears and can you do the same? Yes – and here are some of the ways to do so…

– Accept that fear happens but remember Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s quote from his 1933 inaugural address – “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” 

– Know what you can and cannot control. If you can control something do so and there will be no reason to be fearful. The same holds true for anything you cannot control. If it is out of your hands

– Live with clarity. Know your value. Do that by knowing your competencies, your passions and importantly your relevance.

– Draw on your conviction. Once you know what you can and cannot control and have clarity as to your true value there is no room for fear.

One important thing to embrace is that fear and conviction (faith) cannot coexist. Know your brand. Know your value. Know exactly what is expected of you by yourself and others and you will transform from fearful to fearless