We all deal with the little negative voices inside our heads that tells us we can't do something.
Fearlessness removes or repositions those voices.
Fearlessness chases away the voices that aren't doing you any good.
Fearlessness acknowledges fear, and puts that fear on a shelf, and keeps going.
Fear looks at opportunity with consciousness of what might not go well, and keeps going.
Fearlessness is a choice, a state of mind. It is confidence in our ability to excite and execute. Fearlessness creates the space for us to do what we do best, in a meeting, a conversation, or a project.
Fearlessness is embodied by a baseball pitcher who wants the ball in the bottom of the 9th inning. This pitcher wants the ball because even though he knows he could throw "a ball" (vs strike) he has put that reality up on a shelf. He is going into the game, the ball in his hand, with every intention, every fiber of his being, saturated with the goal of striking out every batter and helping his team win the game.
Elite athletes and coaches, to me, are perfect examples of fearlessness. They step on a world stage, prepared for criticism. They constantly face the reality that they could fumble on the goal line, or miss the winning kick with 2 seconds on the clock.
Fearlessness is Jeff Francoeur stepping into the batters box days after being hit in he face with a 95 mph fastball. Fearlessness is Evander Holyfield, the world famous boxer, crawling back to his feet after a right hook from Mike Tyson.
In the face of that risk, top athletes want nothing more than to step in and try. They want the ball. They are fearless in both body and mind. This is our model of fearlessness.
Fearlessness enables us to pursue anything you want.
Fearlessness opens up our minds, expands our boundaries and believes in all the possibilities.
Fearlessness is unbeatable persistence.
It is our ability to embrace challenges.
It is our guts and our tenacity.
For me, fearlessness means acting on my confidence in myself and the quality of my work. Fearlessness is where dreams are born and bred.
Fearlessness is rooted in the knowledge that life is short, that life comes and goes before we know it. Fearlessness gives us energy and liberation from the boxes that tell us we have done all we can, that we should just settle for less.
Fearlessness allows us to embrace the present and future.
Fearlessness is a lens to the past that appreciates the many, many times we tried.
Fearlessness is the antidote to us waking up one day and feeling that we could have done something but never tried because we were afraid.
Afraid of what?
Afraid to fail.
When we are fearless, that is when -- and this is something I personally want for you -- the boss taps us on the shoulder and tells us, "Hey your are presenting at the biggest sales meeting of the year"... or you are the lead for a paramount piece of business. What is our reaction at the point? We are filled not with fear but with desire. We embrace that chance to expand our horizons and skills. We want it. And if, just if, that little voice tries to remind us we might fail, put it aside, on a shelf. "Thanks for that information", "but I am going to crush it".
Without fearlessness, there is no change.
If it wasn't for fearlessness, we wouldn't have airplanes. We wouldn't have electricity.
We wouldn't have laser surgery or antibiotics or computer chips.
I've seen the power of fearlessness in a famous pitcher and friend - John Smoltz.
John Smoltz is a baseball pitcher so good that one day, no doubt, he'll be in the Hall of Fame.
For most of his long career, he was a starting pitcher -- an ace for the Atlanta Braves.
But when the Braves needed him to change his role, and become the closing pitcher -- the clutch guy who is going to come in and seal the win -- John didn't push back. He didn't fear. Essentially, he was going from being a marathon runner to a sprinter, and he was doing this fairly late in his career.
Yet he didn't worry that while the world of baseball was watching him try to do something that few pitchers ever do, he might fall on his face and fail. The main person who knew that John Smoltz could pull this off was John Smoltz. In many ways, as great of an athlete he is physically, his mind is even stronger. John loves pressure. He loves a challenge. He wants the ball when the game is tied, bases loaded and the team is on his back. He loves it. Fear can find no footing with John Smoltz. And he was not only a great starter, but a great closer too.
We must have some degree of fearlessness to push beyond what we are doing now and into what our mind imagines. Fearlessness is the engine that makes imagination into reality. At the core of fearlessness is confidence and consistency. Confidence and fear cannot coexist. One is going to win. You want confidence to win. Consistency helps us build confidence. It is the rhythm produced when we do what we are uniquely capable of, over and over. When confidence is demonstrated consistently, that is fearlessness.
One of the most important aspects of the journey to fearlessness is taking action.
When we are fearful, we often are stuck. We don't do anything. Fearlessness is a state of activity, not passivity.
Let me share a couple ideas on how I have seen the best become fearless:
- Fear comes from worrying about what other people think – stop it, don’t be a worrier about “WOPT"
- Collect and practice positive messages
- Find a fearless role models
- Think about that pitcher fearlessly taking the ball in the ninth inning
- Practice small acts of fearlessness
- Visualize fearlessness prior to key moments
Coming soon on my website, a video on FEARLESSNESS…with more tools and tactics to overcome fears. Stay tuned.
