Fear, eBay and Jack Canfield
I read the following Jack
Canfield article this morning. It’s a good general piece, but it’s also
particularly useful for new eBay sellers or even eBay veterans that need new
ways to make money, test products, open new markets and innovate. Part of your job
as an eBay seller is to be creative. Creativity requires boldness and a healthy
approach to fears. The article offers useful strategies for moving past fear
and/or using it to guide your decisions and creations. I especially like the
“taking a 2-year-old to the market” analogy.
Putting
Fear in Its Place
by Jack Canfield
As you
move forward on your journey from where you are to where you want to be, you
are going to have to confront some of your fears. Fear is a just a natural part
of living.
Whenever
you start a new project, take on a new venture, or put yourself out there,
there's usually some
fear involved. Unfortunately, most people let fear stop them from taking the
necessary steps to achieve their dreams.
Confronting
your fears is a very necessary step in achieving success.
There
is simply no other way.
Fear
can be a helpful emotion, as it tells you when you need to be extra careful,
keenly aware, and cautious. Fear is not an emotion that is telling you to stop.
In fact, it's telling you just the opposite!
Acknowledging
your feelings of fear helps you know when you are stepping out of your comfort
zone. It points your awareness to areas where you could improve and grow.
Successful
people also feel fear. Yet they don't let it get in the way of
anything they want to do--or have
to do. They understand that fear is something to be
acknowledged, experienced, and taken along for the ride. They have learned, as
author Susan Jeffers suggests in her must-read book, to "Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway®."
Jeffers has been a friend of mine for twenty years now, and her work,
which is very powerful and transformational, has helped millions of people
overcome their fears and move forward to create success in their lives. I
highly recommend her as a resource.)
You
see, fear is more of a signal that we should stay alert and cautious. We can
feel fear, but we can still move forward anyway.
Think
of fear as a 2-year-old child who doesn't want to go grocery shopping with you.
Because you must buy groceries, you'll just have to take the two year old with
you. Fear is no different. In other words, acknowledge that fear exists but
don't let it keep you from doing important tasks.
Also
realize that so many of our fears are self-created. We might frighten ourselves
by fantasizing negative outcomes to any activity we might peruse or experience.
Luckily, because we are the ones doing the fantasizing, we are also the ones
who can stop the fear and bring ourselves into a state of clarity and peace by
facing the actual facts, rather than giving in to our imaginations.
If a
fear is too great for you to overcome, try breaking it down into smaller
challenges.
Try
starting out doing the parts of the project that don't scare you so much. You
need to give a speech in front of a large group? Try giving your speech in
front of a small group of people who care for you. Work your way up until you
are able to feel the fear but still move forward. As you do, you will build
your confidence and eventually you won't feel fear surrounding those issues
because you'll have done them enough to count it as a skill.
As you
move toward your goal, don't attach yourself so much to the outcomes.
Keep
moving toward your dream doing everything you can to create what you want, then
let it go and see what shows up. Sometimes the universe will have a better idea
in mind for you and present a better opportunity when you were expecting
something completely different. Don't let fear keep you from moving forward.
Even if the horrible outcome that you imagined happens, the universe will
always provide for you another way to succeed. So be on the look out!
Trust
that no matter what occurs, you are smart enough and strong enough to keep
looking for, and attracting, opportunities.
If you
are willing to try new experiences in spite of your fears, then more new
experiences will present themselves for you to try. And the more you try, the
more you are likely to succeed!
For
even MORE inspiration about overcoming your fears, you can learn
from this Video Clip of Me on YouTube
discussing some tactics you can use right away!
© 2008 Jack Canfield
Jack Canfield, America's Success Coach, is the founder and
co-creator of the billion-dollar book brand Chicken
Soup for the Soul and a leading authority on Peak Performance. If
you're ready to jump-start your life, make more money, and have more fun and
joy in all that you do, get your FREE success tips from Jack Canfield now at: www.FreeSuccessStrategies.com
