Don't call me chicken!!
One of the most overused sayings is 'When life gives you a lemon, make lemonade'. It's almost a quick response to help ease a situation. But a psychologist did a study monitoring people's actions by showing them the 'lemonade' in their worst of times to see who would make the effort to take it. Turns out that only 28% got themselves out of their bad predicaments by making the lemons or 'opportunities'.
He used an example of a lady who had started a business and because it was going more and more into debt, she was shown an opportunity to rent out some space in her office to help cover the overheads. She refused. When she was given a very fair price on some condos she owned as a way to get cash, she refused. Eventually, her business failed, she lost the condos to the bank and ended up working in a call-in center.
This is not because she was lazy or unreasonable, but it actually comes down to a simple truth...fear.
We camouflage fear very well with excuses from 'I don't feel like it', to 'It's not me, it's them"!
Why fear? It comes down to one thing..looking stupid.
We hate the idea of failing in front of people because it will make us look less than everyone else. We hate the idea of finding out that are dreams are nothing more than fiction because when we achieve the success we want, people will realize we aren't as good as we thought and be taken down. We feel that getting into a situation will end up with us getting hurt or disappointed, so better to kill our own chances instead of going through the heartbreak.
So at what point do we get over our own insecurities and take our lives back from fear? Most of us, never. How sad.
I have noticed from personal experience, the minute I say I need help, 20 people are ready. No one thinks less of me, and no one has ever used it against me. I'm still head of my own companies and the people that helped me, I have noticed are even MORE loyal to me. I think it comes down to the fact that it takes more strength to admit to one's weaknesses than to put up an image of one's fictional strengths.
In the blogs I write to you, I try to be as open as I can for two reasons: If at first you don't succeed, you are running about average, and we both are in the same boat. Secondly, if I'm honest with you, maybe you will be honest with me.
The Ashton Kutchers, the Britney Spears, the George Bush's don't have more talent, intelligence or passion than you, what makes them different is that they didn't care about failure because it was never an option. They only focused on success, and those around them were motivated to help them because of that!
How about we make a deal with each other? For 1 week, 7 days, we do ONE THING that scares us. Just ONE THING for 7 days. There are almost 2200 people reading this. If 2200 people did something that scared them for just 7 days, imagine the possibilities! Not only that, but we have just changed the statistic above!
So if you are afraid of getting into a relationship, asking that person out, asking your boss for a raise, starting your business, saying what you feel, then DO IT!! No one has ever died from confronting their fears, they die from a bruised ego.
Let's all update on the wall. I want to read about your worst fear, and how you overcame it. If I'm wrong, then after 7 days, you don't ever have to attempt it again..so whadya say??
- sanjay's blog
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