In
this month’s O Magazine, Dr. Phil talks about the F-word. We’re talking about
the word behind a staggering high percentage of life choices we make. The word
is fear. A psychology professor of
the good Dr. said 80 percent of decisions are based on fear rather than desire.
Wow. Think what that means... Too hard to grasp, I know. And we are not talking
about not walking down a dark alley kind of fear. We are talking settling on a
boring job offer instead of on a career that makes you happy because you are afraid no one else will hire you kind of
fear. Dr. Phil believes we don’t even notice we’ve been selling out (I call it
settling) because that’s all we’ve done most of our lives. (see link below to
the full article).
I began a more fearless journey when I turned 50. (Yes, starting with this blog I
had been thinking about writing.) I
have to say, being fearless has been downright fun! This year alone, me posing a question to my besties, “who
wants to go to Scotland with me?” was terrifying. I was fearless igniting an
idea & they in turn were fearless in saying yes! The planning & the
trip were remarkable. So many things could have gone wrong, but didn’t. We all
found the money, our aging parents stayed healthy & we stayed healthy so we
could all see this dream vacation materialize. Kudos to all of us for taking a
risk. They probably didn’t even realize they were embarking on a fearless journey too! One book that has
helped with so many aspects of becoming ‘great’ & ‘fearless’ is 8 to Great by M K Mueller. I’ve mention
it before in my blog. It’s a book everyone should read, young & older. Risk
taking is covered at length here. Taking risks is such an important part of
staying young. What good is being young if your heart & mind feel lifeless
& old? In the 1960’s two psychotherapists went around the world to study 33
different cultures to find what the happiest people had in common. The most
common characteristics was not love, money, fame, good looks, health or lots of
friends. It was risk. Meuller asks, so who has more fear cowards or heroes?
Turns out we all have the same, but heroes feel the fear and do it anyway.
So take this fearless journey with me. The road to success in never a straight line,
so don’t worry about the stumbles along the way. Two of the hardest risks are
believing in our dreams & trusting, but the rewards are great. Start small,
but start losing those fears. Check in on your bucket list & revive your
fearless spirit!! The journey is all yours to begin, to savor, to live.
Remember, “Some people
live for ninety years. Others just live one year ninety times. ~Dr. Wayne Dyer
“Life is an ongoing process of choosing
between safety (out of fear) and risk (for growth), Make the growth choice a
dozen times a day.
~ Abraham Maslow
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