The original version of this article appeared in Lantern, a publication that examines the affairs of life
As workers, high pressure, fast-paced, scenarios (entrepreneurs, aspiring entrepreneurs, many people in technology or a competitive business field), many of us are facing the fear. Pitching rich on ideas that we are not sure will work. Trying to get more customers. Do battle with internal and external competitors.
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It can be terrifying.
Fear can paralyze us
Because of its unpredictability, the very thought of doing something that we fear may induce anxiety among many of us.
Yet it is also the key to growth. Some professions require that people work with fear almost every day. For example, most of us run away from even the mildest forms of conflict. However, fighters and boxers face regularly with him, even if their opponent gets to be four times larger than the (here's another).
As it stands, the fighters are not just born with more courage than the rest of us. They are trained to deal with the fear -. To the point that some need fear to grow
In his autobiography Undisputed Truth, Mike Tyson recalls his coach Cus D'Amato about the fear, and how to overcome them:
fear is the greatest obstacle to learning. But fear is your best friend. Fear is like fire. If you learn to control it, you let it work for you.
If you do not learn to control it, it's going to you and all around you destroy. As a snowball on a hill, you can pick it up and throw or do anything you want with it before it starts rolling down, but once it rolls and becomes so large it will crush you to death
therefore, we must never allow fear to develop and build without control over it, because if you do not do it you will not be able to achieve your goal or save your life.
In order to keep control of it, you need to keep your fear to a sustainable level. Once it exceeds a certain threshold, your priority should be reigning back in - otherwise, all paris open. This means that the development of methods for relaxing or constantly reduce fear - and understand what triggers the fear -. May be useful for maintaining control
Similarly, Bruce Lee had a few words about the fear of being a potential barrier to learning in striking thoughts:
the enemy of development is this phobia of pain - the reluctance to do a little bit of pain. As you feel uncomfortable you interrupt the continuum of consciousness and you become phobic -. So therapeutically speaking, we continue to grow through integrated awareness / care
Lee also believed that fear was the first step in a deeper journey: "To understand your fear is. the beginning to really see "
in his book Mind the Fighter, author Sam Sheridan interviewed a number of UFC fighters including Kenny Florian. Florian recalls the trip to honor during his time with the UFC - and how he started his career off by losing a fight, he had a good chance to win:
I was so nervous. The actual capacity is now I master this fear. I had a lot more fights in the UFC locally, so I did my growing up in the UFC, which is a difficult thing to do. It was a blessing and a curse. Many doubt and fear, and descontrol was scary, but now I use this fear.
It puts pressure on me in the right direction. "
The ability to work from fear for you is essential, and there are no shortcuts. It takes experience and time.
There are no shortcuts in learning to cope with fear
If you regularly high-pressure situations, it is possible to frame each day as another opportunity to master your fear. Likewise, just because you start on the wrong foot, it is not the end of the world.
Another point to remember is to step back from everything you're afraid and look beyond the situation. In the interview with Sheridan Randy Couture:
"The first thing is the perspective. I frame things in a positive manner and remain reflective. It is almost a cliché, but in the grand scheme of my life, if the worst thing that happens to me is that I lose a wrestling match, even if it is the Olympic finals, so I'm pretty damn good. A fight, even a championship fight, barely registers.
Immediately that takes some of the pressure. I know I'll survive, it is not the end of the world. I will not love him; I do not want to lose, but the people who really care about me do not worry about me because I win. They care about me and want me to be happy.
I think it helps me overcome the traditional fear of failure that most athletes themselves set up for. They are so concerned about looking stupid, or make a mistake, they do not do what they were trained. They get in their way. "
This may come as a relief or as an unpleasant truth, but the world cares much less about the thing you fear you.
In its early days, Frank Shamrock was once forced to fight the teacher of his teacher. He knew he was going to take a beating. As he recalled to Sheridan in the spirit of The Fighter:
Frank taught him to meditate in a hotel room in Japan. "The logic was not there a way to beat this guy, he said, and I had so much fear and anxiety. I had to try something. I am in myself, trying to calm down. I sat in the hotel, thinking, 'Oh my God, what am I doing? "When I realized I had to relax.
So I was working on it. deep breaths, his eyes closed, thinking about individual techniques. I relaxed and it worked. I began to do the visualization technique. Then I went there and Funaki kicked the crap out of me. "Frank dissolves into wild cackles, deep real fun. ". Yes, he broke me, but I came back and beat him later "
Although Frank was not victorious in the fight, he picked up a skill as by-product much more valuable: he learned how to deal with his fear. Meditation and visualization may not be able to prevent your fears come true, but it can help you stay calm and keep your fear in your control.
Closing thoughts
Fear can be a serious inhibition to progress. In Striking Thoughts Bruce Lee wrote: "There can be no initiative if we are afraid, and fear compels us to cling to tradition, gurus, etc."
The next time you feel the grips of fear, remember that Cus D'Amato said Mike Tyson:
well, there is no difference between a hero and a coward in what they feel. It's what they do that makes them different. the hero and the coward feel exactly the same, but you must have the discipline to do what a hero and stop you do what coward does
And if that is not enough for you, remember this too shall pass
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