Build confidence and self esteem.
Yes, fear is
real and it exists. And we must recognise it before we can conquer it.
Most fear
today is psychological. Worry, tension embarrassment, panic all stem from
mismanaged, negative imagination . but simply knowing the breeding ground of
fear doesn’t cure fear. If a physician discovers you have an infection in some
part of your body, he doesn’t stop there. He proceeds with treatment to cure
the infection.
The old
‘’it’s only in your mind’’ treatment presumes fear doesn’t really exist. But it
does. Fear is real. It is success enemy number one. Fear stops people from
capitalizing on opportunity, fear wears down physical vitality, fear actually
makes people sick, causes organic difficulties, shorten life, fear closes your
mouth when you want to speak.
Fear
uncertainty, lack of confidence explains why we still have economic recession.
During world
war II the navy made sure that all its new recruit had to learn how to swim,
the reason was that someday the only option for them to survive or to save
lives is to swim. It was amusing to see young, healthy men terrified by just a
few dept of water. One of the exercise required them to jump inside the water
not dive form a cliff of about 6ft high into water of 7 to 8 ft .
The fear
those young men displayed was real. Yet all that stood between them and the
defeat of fear was one drop into the water below. On one occasion, one of the
new sailor was intentionally pushed into the water after waiting for so long
for him to jump but he did not, because of fear. There was something surprising
after this young man was pushed into the water. He had gained full courage and
there was little or no fear any longer, now he was willing to jump over and
over and over again without being pushed this time around. Few jumps after his
first attempt, he had gained courage and all fear was dispelled.
I came to a
conclusion that ‘’action cures fear’’. Yes it really does. Have you ever
attempted speaking in a crowd before? You will discover when you begin at first
you are to an extent shy and timid, but as you continue speaking you begin to
gain confidence. Such is life.
A very
troubled executive in his early forties had a responsible job as a buyer for a
large retailing organisation.
Worriedly he
explained, ‘’ i am afraid of losing my job. I have got that feelings that my
days are numbered.
The pattern is against me. sales figure in my
department are off seven percent from a year ago. He continued i have lost my
grip, and it shows. My assistant buyer senses it, other executives, of course
are aware that i am slipping. One buyer suggested at a meeting of all the head
buyers the other day that part of my line should be put in his department.
Finally
someone cut in and asked, ‘’what are you doing about it?
He answered
there isn’t much i can do , but hope for the best.’’
To this
comment he was asked, ‘’honestly, now, is hope enough? Why not take action to
support your hope.
There are
two kinds of action that can solve your problem. First start this afternoon to
move those sales figures upward. There is a reason why your sales are slipping.
May be you need a special sale to clear out your slow moving merchandise, so
you will be in a position to buy some fresh stocks. May be your sales people
need more enthusiasm, i can’t figure out what will turn your sales volume
upward, but something will
The second
action is to let two or three of your closest business friends in the trade
know you might consider an offer from another store, assuming, of course, it is
substantially better than your present job.
I don’t
believe your job will be insecure after you take some affirmative action to get
those sales figures on the rise. But just in case, it’s good to have an offer
or two.
Two days
later the ones troubled executive said after our talk, i buckled down. I made a
number of changes, but the most basic one was with my salespeople. I used to hold
sales meeting once a week, but now i do that every morning. I have got people
really enthusiastic. I guess ones they saw some life in me they were ready to
push harder too.
Last week my
sales were well ahead of a year ago and much better than the stores average.
When we face
tough problem, we stay mired in the mud until we take action to win victories.
Next time
when you experience big or little fear, steady yourself. Then search for answer
to this question. What kind of action can i take to conquer my fear?
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