Embrace The Fear

“To be the best, you have to be willing to be uncomfortable and embrace it as part of your growth process.”

I found this quote in on of my favorite inspirational books, “Training Camp” by Jon Gordon. To be the best at whatever we do requires going outside one’s comfort zone, which is definitely easier said than done. It’s so easy to get complacent and convince ourselves we don’t need to strive for better but life is a journey that’s meant to be revealed to us over time and with each new chapter, new opportunities emerge as we continue on our journey to become even better than we ever imagined.

But recognizing and embracing these opportunities usually requires us to get uncomfortable for a while. Our inner spirit can sense that something better is just within our reach, but stepping out into that is another story. All sorts of emotions come up when we’re ready to step out and that’s what makes us uncomfortable. Fear of the unknown and self-doubt are typically the biggest things that hold us back. The good news is that everyone is confronted with the same feelings. It’s what we do with those feelings that define the best of the best. I love this quote “Feel the fear and do it any way” (The Success Principles by Jack Canfield). And there in lies the key, the best of the best feel the fear and dot it anyway. It’s part of the process and the sooner we learn to accept it as part of the process, the quicker we’ll grow and experience all the exciting opportunities that await us.

The best of the best are passionate about what they do and are always striving to learn and improve. They don’t let being uncomfortable stand in their way for achieving their inner desire for greatness. They also do it with a sense of humility. They know that no matter how much they learn, there is always an opportunity to learn more and at the same time impart what they’ve learned with others.

Learn to embrace being uncomfortable; it really is sign that you’re heading in the right direction to achieving all that life has in store for you. Don’t let fear hold you back, move forward in spite of your fears and enjoy the wonderful rewards that await you at the other side of those fears.

Riding The Current

A few you may have seen this recent post from me on Twitter and Facebook, “Living your life in complete faith and confidence feels like gliding on the current of God". This quote just so completely resonated with me in capturing the true essence of living a purposeful life that I felt compelled to share it and thought it would be great to expand on it through my blog.

One of my favorite mentors Ali Brown (www.alibrown.com) talked about this in terms of living your life effortlessly completely focused in faith and confidence. Her story is so inspiring to me because she started out just like so many of us – wanting more and sensing more was out there for her but not sure how to attain it or grasp her true purpose. She was frustrated where she was both personally and professionally and passionately wanted to make a change. It was when she truly embraced that desire and made the decision to start living her life by faith and not getting caught up in the “how” that her true path and essence for being started to unfold.

Today, she is the example of living a life completely based in faith and confidence in the outcome. She went from not having enough money to even withdraw from her ATM to now running a million dollar online marketing and coaching business and speaking internationally. She often jokes that she doesn’t know how it will happen, she just makes the decision that it will happen and has complete faith and confidence that the how will present itself at the right time.

This is really how God intended us to live. A scripture comes to mind that I’ve relied on when I feel unsure about anything. Proverbs 3:5-6 reads, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths”. And Psalm 37:5 clearly gets to the how, “Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, and He will do it.” Ali Brown finally connected the dots for me, taking what I understood intellectually but I now embrace with my heart and soul. God must laugh as He watches us toil and struggle knowing all we really need to do is quiet ourselves and listen for His direction. We are so programmed that everything we want in life has to be hard but that is clearly not God’s intention.

God has placed our dreams right in front of us - we just need to plug into His current to start experiencing them. How exciting is that?!! Living our lives completely trusting and confident He will provide allows us to ride the wave and enjoy all the abundance and greatness He has in store for us. This is where the magic begins to happen and as Ali so eloquently put it, when you start “riding on the current of God”.