Green means GO! 3 Small Steps to Change your Mind from Seeing Fear to Knowing Freedom

Have you ever asked yourself “Why not me?” If you have, this article is for YOU!

There is a burning desire in us all! Some people like Warren Buffet and Michael Jordan learned to tap into that desire and create the drive that brought them the things in life they wanted to have. Some people read about their stories and just dream about them. Others won’t even take the time to read the stories because they are too caught up in their own dismay to even think there could be a future out there like that for them. I’m here to tell you there is no other alternative to living than to take that green light and floor it to desire.
In my studies of people I have come to know and teach change to, most have one goal and one obstacle: Desire. Normally, you may think of desire as a good thing. However, I noticed that desire can be a devastating force in a majority of the population of people I have had the privilege to talk to. There seems to be desire for things or situations, but not for attaining those things or situations.

For example, I had a desire for a “normal” life. I wanted the good job, nice car, fulfilling relationship, the house of my own. Yet, I refused to let myself believe that I deserved these things for myself. I always had an excuse for why I would not get the things I always wanted. Come to find out, my desire was nothing but the desire to think about how I would never get those things. I could tell you so many reasons why I wouldn’t get what I wanted out of life, but not one reason why I WOULD get what I wanted.
Then one day I came I figured it all out. Mentally, I was stuck at a green light. I had everything I needed: A Car, a gas pedal, a foot, the desire to go forward, but no will to go beyond the intersection and see what lay beyond the traffic signal. I wanted to, but it seemed like too much trouble to leave. Then it hit me: It wasn’t that it was too much trouble, it was that I SCARED to move.

Fear of public speaking, according to several studies, is more powerful than fear of death. It seems there is a kind of relaxing finality in death that most people, at least those in the studies, can cope with. But public speaking, well, the audience can boo you off stage, throw vegetables, and you still have to somehow live with yourself. How scary is that? Fear is taking the best we have in us, and making it a thing to work against us. So how can we change this so fear is no longer our enemy? I’ll give you three steps that helped me.

Step 1: Acknowledge the fear.
Know that everyone is afraid of something. We are human. We have flaws. Sure those flaws can hinder our performance, but if you aren’t even in the game, then what good is it to have them in the first place. You know there are things that you may not be the greatest at, but you have to know what they are and WORK at them. That’s looking at the fear head on and doing something about it.

Step 2: Challenge Your Fear
That’s right: Challenge that fear head on. If you know you need to be a better speaker in order to get that promotion at work and make the money you know you deserve, then you are going to have to get better at it, period. Even if you are more scared of speaking than dying, you have to challenge your EGO and let it know you need to get over it all to start gaining what you want out of life. If you always do what you’ve always done, you will get what you’ve always got.

Step 3: Move Past Your Fear, and BEYOND
Once you challenge that fear, it’s time to learn from the challenge. Even if you get in front of people and freeze 2 sentences into it, you still got further than the MILLIONS of people worldwide that would never even think of standing up in public and trying to speak in the first place! Congratulations! You put your foot on the gas and started to move. You will find it liberating and fulfilling to do the things you are afraid of, and most of all, find them empowering as well.

Keep repeating the steps over and over again, continually learning in the process, and you will soon find your dreams starting to take shape in your life. You can have, be and do what you want in this world. There are no limits, only challenges set by our own limitations. The real challenge is taking those limitations and making them goals to overcome with success!

I invite you to message me here or there and let me know how you are doing. I will try my best to point you in the right direction, just like someone did for me.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, and I hope it finds you GREEN!
Andre Wiley