Lorraine Cohen is a friend of mine, and a very wise person.  The other day she sent me an email with 15 quotes about courage.  If you want to create the life and career success you want and deserve you have to be courageous.  It takes courage to fight through your fears and become the career success you deserve to be.

Lorraine is offering a new program called “Awakening Your Courageous Heart.”  It begins on October 18 – tomorrow.  I urge you to go to http:www.yourcourageousheart.com and check it out.

Meanwhile, enjoy these quotes on courage…

“When we come to the edge of all the light we have and must take the step into the darkness of the unknown, we must believe one of two things. Either we will find something solid to stand on or, we will be taught to fly.” – Patrick Overton

“Courage is the most important of all the virtues, because without courage you can’t practice any other virtue consistently. You can practice any virtue erratically, but nothing consistently without courage.” – Maya Angelou

“History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again.” – Maya Angelou

“Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear.”- Ambrose Redmoon

“If we’re growing, we’re always going to be out of our comfort zone.”- John Maxwell

“Be strong now because things will get better. It might be stormy now but it can’t rain forever.” – Hailee
“The brave may not live forever, but the cautious don’t live at all.” – Ashley L.

“Fear and courage are brothers.” – Proverb

“You can never cross the ocean unless you have the courage to lose the sight of the shore.” – Christopher Columbus

“Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever.” – Lance Armstrong

“Courage is the knowing that something scares the hell out of you but you do it anyway because you know it will change your life forever.”– Unknown

“A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.” – John C. Maxwell

“Promise me you’ll always remember: You’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. Christopher Robin to Pooh” & “Whatever fortune brings, don’t be afraid of doing things.”– A. A. Milne

“Confront the dark parts of yourself, and work to banish them with illumination and forgiveness. Your willingness to wrestle with your demons will cause your angels to sing. Use the pain as fuel, as a reminder of your strength.” – August Wilson

“It takes strength to be firm and it takes courage to be gentle.
It takes strength to conquer and it takes courage to surrender.
It takes strength to be certain and it takes courage to have doubt.
It takes strength to fit in and it takes courage to stand out.
It takes strength to feel a friend’s pain and it takes courage to feel your own pain.
It takes strength to endure abuse and it takes courage to stop it.
It takes strength to stand alone and it takes courage to lean on another.
It takes strength to love and it takes courage to be loved.
It takes strength to survive and it takes courage to live.” – Unknown

Courage will help you become more self confident – and the more confident you are the more likely you are to create the life and career success you want and deserve.  Tweet 45 in my career advice book Success Tweets says, “Everyone is afraid sometime.  Self confident people face their fears and act.  Look you fears in the eye and do something.”

Courage is not the absence of fear, but the willingness to confront your fear and do something about it.  Fear is normal.  Fear is common.  Fear is human.  However, fear is a career success killer.  We’re all afraid sometime.  Successful people face their fears and act.  I’ve learned a few things about fear over the years.

Fear breeds indifference.  Indifference breeds self doubt and worry.  Often, it’s easier to go with the flow and do nothing than attempt to do something of which you’re afraid.  When you say to yourself, “It’s OK, it doesn’t really matter anyway,” ask the next question – “What am I afraid of here?”  Identifying your fear is the first step in dealing with it.

Self-doubt is a form of negative self-talk.  Our words can become self-fulfilling prophecies.  Positive self-talk leads to success.  Negative self-talk leads to fear and failure.  If you catch yourself saying things like, “I can’t do this; I’ll never be successful; I’ll never get out of this mess,” then you never will.  If you say things like, “I can do this; I have what it takes to succeed; I can solve this problem,” then you will.

Worry and excessive caution will paralyze you.  Some people spend so much time worrying about the bad things that could or might happen that they never take action and actually do something to prove that good things happen too.  Worrying too much can bring you and your life and career success quest to a screeching halt.

A boat that never leaves the harbor is pretty safe.  However, it is not doing what it is meant to be doing.  The same is true for people.  If you never take a risk, you’ll never know what you are capable of accomplishing.

Here are my tips for doing battle with your fears.

1) Identify what you fear.  Figure out why you’re afraid. Is it fear of failure?  Is it fear of making the wrong decision?  Is it fear of a lost opportunity?  Are you afraid that you aren’t up to task?  Once you identify the reason behind your fear, you are well on the way to overcoming it.

2) Admit what you fear.  It’s OK to be afraid.  You wouldn’t be human if you were never afraid.  A common definition of courage is the ability to feel fear and still do what you need to do, regardless.  In 1988, I faced a very frightening decision.  Should I stay in a comfortable but ultimately unsatisfying job with a large corporation, or should I start my own business?  I was afraid of failing.  Failing meant that I would lose my savings and have to start over again, looking for a job in another corporation.  However, once I identified and admitted my fear, I was able to take the next step – acceptance.

3) Accept what you fear.  Accepting your fears is important, because it shows that you know you’re human.  Once I accepted that I was afraid of failing, I was able to start my business and succeed.  In fact, I embraced my fear of failure.  It made me work harder; it pushed me to work the long hours and learn the entrepreneurship lessons necessary to be successful as a self-employed career success coach, consultant and speaker.

4) Take action.  Action cures fear.  It is the most important of these four steps.  Do something!  The worst thing that can happen is that you’ll find it was the wrong thing to do – and you will have eliminated at least one thing from your list of possible actions.

The career success coach point here is simple common sense.  Successful people don’t let fear paralyze them into inaction.  They follow these four steps for dealing with the fear that can sabotage their career success: identify it, admit it, accept it, do something about it.”  Action is the antidote to fear.  In most cases, you’ll make good decisions and your fears won’t be realized.  In the cases when you choose poorly, you’ll find that failure isn’t as catastrophic as you imagined.  Successful people learn from their failures.  By taking action on your fears, you win on both counts.  You win if you make a good decision and things work out.  You even win if you make a bad decision and things go poorly, because you have an opportunity to learn from your decision and the subsequent problems you faced.

That’s my career advice inspired by Lorraine Cohen’s quotes on courage.  What do you think?  Please take a minute to share your thoughts with us in a comment.  As always, thanks for reading my daily thoughts on life and career success.  I value you and I appreciate you.

Bud

PS: If you haven’t already done so, please download a free copy of my popular career advice book Success Tweets and its companion piece Success Tweets Explained.  The first gives you 140 bits of career success advice tweet style — in 140 characters or less.  The second is a whopping 390 + pages of career advice explaining each of the common sense tweets in Success Tweets in detail.  Go to http://budurl.com/STExp to claim your free copy.  You’ll also start receiving my daily life and career success quotes.

PPS: I opened a membership site on September 1.  It’s called My Corporate Climb and is devoted to helping people create career success inside large corporations.  To celebrate the grand opening, I’m giving away a new career advice book I’ve written called I Want YOU…To Succeed in Your Corporate Climb.  You can find out about the membership site and get the career advice in I Want YOU… for free by going to http://www.mycorporateclimb.

Lorraine Cohen is a friend of mine, and a very wise person.  The other day she sent me an email with 15 quotes about courage.  If you want to create the life and career success you want and deserve you have to be courageous.  It takes courage to fight through your fears and become the career success you deserve to be.

Lorraine is offering a new program called “Awakening Your Courageous Heart.”  It begins on October 18 – tomorrow.  I urge you to go to http:www.yourcourageousheart.com and check it out.

Meanwhile, enjoy these quotes on courage…

“When we come to the edge of all the light we have and must take the step into the darkness of the unknown, we must believe one of two things. Either we will find something solid to stand on or, we will be taught to fly.” – Patrick Overton

“Courage is the most important of all the virtues, because without courage you can’t practice any other virtue consistently. You can practice any virtue erratically, but nothing consistently without courage.” – Maya Angelou

“History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again.” – Maya Angelou

“Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear.”- Ambrose Redmoon

“If we’re growing, we’re always going to be out of our comfort zone.”- John Maxwell

“Be strong now because things will get better. It might be stormy now but it can’t rain forever.” – Hailee
“The brave may not live forever, but the cautious don’t live at all.” – Ashley L.

“Fear and courage are brothers.” – Proverb

“You can never cross the ocean unless you have the courage to lose the sight of the shore.” – Christopher Columbus

“Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever.” – Lance Armstrong

“Courage is the knowing that something scares the hell out of you but you do it anyway because you know it will change your life forever.”– Unknown

“A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.” – John C. Maxwell

“Promise me you’ll always remember: You’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. Christopher Robin to Pooh” & “Whatever fortune brings, don’t be afraid of doing things.”– A. A. Milne

“Confront the dark parts of yourself, and work to banish them with illumination and forgiveness. Your willingness to wrestle with your demons will cause your angels to sing. Use the pain as fuel, as a reminder of your strength.” – August Wilson

“It takes strength to be firm and it takes courage to be gentle.
It takes strength to conquer and it takes courage to surrender.
It takes strength to be certain and it takes courage to have doubt.
It takes strength to fit in and it takes courage to stand out.
It takes strength to feel a friend’s pain and it takes courage to feel your own pain.
It takes strength to endure abuse and it takes courage to stop it.
It takes strength to stand alone and it takes courage to lean on another.
It takes strength to love and it takes courage to be loved.
It takes strength to survive and it takes courage to live.” – Unknown

Courage will help you become more self confident – and the more confident you are the more likely you are to create the life and career success you want and deserve.  Tweet 45 in my career advice book Success Tweets says, “Everyone is afraid sometime.  Self confident people face their fears and act.  Look you fears in the eye and do something.”

Courage is not the absence of fear, but the willingness to confront your fear and do something about it.  Fear is normal.  Fear is common.  Fear is human.  However, fear is a career success killer.  We’re all afraid sometime.  Successful people face their fears and act.  I’ve learned a few things about fear over the years.

Fear breeds indifference.  Indifference breeds self doubt and worry.  Often, it’s easier to go with the flow and do nothing than attempt to do something of which you’re afraid.  When you say to yourself, “It’s OK, it doesn’t really matter anyway,” ask the next question – “What am I afraid of here?”  Identifying your fear is the first step in dealing with it.

Self-doubt is a form of negative self-talk.  Our words can become self-fulfilling prophecies.  Positive self-talk leads to success.  Negative self-talk leads to fear and failure.  If you catch yourself saying things like, “I can’t do this; I’ll never be successful; I’ll never get out of this mess,” then you never will.  If you say things like, “I can do this; I have what it takes to succeed; I can solve this problem,” then you will.

Worry and excessive caution will paralyze you.  Some people spend so much time worrying about the bad things that could or might happen that they never take action and actually do something to prove that good things happen too.  Worrying too much can bring you and your life and career success quest to a screeching halt.

A boat that never leaves the harbor is pretty safe.  However, it is not doing what it is meant to be doing.  The same is true for people.  If you never take a risk, you’ll never know what you are capable of accomplishing.

Here are my tips for doing battle with your fears.

1) Identify what you fear.  Figure out why you’re afraid. Is it fear of failure?  Is it fear of making the wrong decision?  Is it fear of a lost opportunity?  Are you afraid that you aren’t up to task?  Once you identify the reason behind your fear, you are well on the way to overcoming it.

2) Admit what you fear.  It’s OK to be afraid.  You wouldn’t be human if you were never afraid.  A common definition of courage is the ability to feel fear and still do what you need to do, regardless.  In 1988, I faced a very frightening decision.  Should I stay in a comfortable but ultimately unsatisfying job with a large corporation, or should I start my own business?  I was afraid of failing.  Failing meant that I would lose my savings and have to start over again, looking for a job in another corporation.  However, once I identified and admitted my fear, I was able to take the next step – acceptance.

3) Accept what you fear.  Accepting your fears is important, because it shows that you know you’re human.  Once I accepted that I was afraid of failing, I was able to start my business and succeed.  In fact, I embraced my fear of failure.  It made me work harder; it pushed me to work the long hours and learn the entrepreneurship lessons necessary to be successful as a self-employed career success coach, consultant and speaker.

4) Take action.  Action cures fear.  It is the most important of these four steps.  Do something!  The worst thing that can happen is that you’ll find it was the wrong thing to do – and you will have eliminated at least one thing from your list of possible actions.

The career success coach point here is simple common sense.  Successful people don’t let fear paralyze them into inaction.  They follow these four steps for dealing with the fear that can sabotage their career success: identify it, admit it, accept it, do something about it.”  Action is the antidote to fear.  In most cases, you’ll make good decisions and your fears won’t be realized.  In the cases when you choose poorly, you’ll find that failure isn’t as catastrophic as you imagined.  Successful people learn from their failures.  By taking action on your fears, you win on both counts.  You win if you make a good decision and things work out.  You even win if you make a bad decision and things go poorly, because you have an opportunity to learn from your decision and the subsequent problems you faced.

That’s my career advice inspired by Lorraine Cohen’s quotes on courage.  What do you think?  Please take a minute to share your thoughts with us in a comment.  As always, thanks for reading my daily thoughts on life and career success.  I value you and I appreciate you.

Bud

PS: If you haven’t already done so, please download a free copy of my popular career advice book Success Tweets and its companion piece Success Tweets Explained.  The first gives you 140 bits of career success advice tweet style — in 140 characters or less.  The second is a whopping 390 + pages of career advice explaining each of the common sense tweets in Success Tweets in detail.  Go to http://budurl.com/STExp to claim your free copy.  You’ll also start receiving my daily life and career success quotes.

PPS: I opened a membership site on September 1.  It’s called My Corporate Climb and is devoted to helping people create career success inside large corporations.  To celebrate the grand opening, I’m giving away a new career advice book I’ve written called I Want YOU…To Succeed in Your Corporate Climb.  You can find out about the membership site and get the career advice in I Want YOU… for free by going to http://www.mycorporateclimb.

Today’s career advice comes from Shakespeare.  In Measure for Measure he says, “Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we might win, by fearing to attempt.”  I always tell my career success coach clients that fear is a career success killer – you have to look your fears in the eye and do something.

Tweet 45 in my career advice book Success Tweets says, “Everyone is afraid sometime.  Self-confident people face their fears and act.  Look your fears in the eye and do something.”

Fear is the enemy of self-confidence.  Self-confident people face their fears and act.  Procrastination is the manifestation of fear.  When I find myself procrastinating, I stop and ask myself “What are you afraid of here, Bud?”

Usually, the answer is on the 12 most common fears on the list below.  Which of these stop you from moving forward toward your career success?  What are you doing about them?

1. Fear of failure – This type of fear has its roots in the misconception that everything you do has to be 100% successful.
2. Fear of success – This type of fear is based on the idea that success is likely to mean more responsibility and attention, coupled with pressure to continue to perform at a high level.
3. Fear of being judged – This type of fear comes from the need for approval that most people develop in childhood.
4. Fear of emotional pain – This type of fear is rooted in wanting to avoid potential negative consequences of your actions.
5. Fear of embarrassment – This type of fear is a result of empowering others to judge you when you demonstrate that you’re only human by making mistakes and having lapses of judgment.
6. Fear of being abandoned or being alone – This type of fear is related to rejection and low self-esteem.
7. Fear of rejection – This type of fear comes from personalizing what others do and say.
8. Fear of expressing your true feelings – This type of fear holds you back from engaging in open, honest dialogue with the people in your life.
9. Fear of intimacy – This type of fear manifests itself by an unwillingness to let others get too close, lest they discover the “real you.”
10. Fear of the unknown – This type of fear manifests itself as needless worry about all of the bad things that could happen if you decide to make a change in your life.
11. Fear of loss – This type of fear is related to the potential pain associated with no longer having something or someone of emotional significance to you.
12. Fear of death – The ultimate fear of the unknown.  What will happen once our spirits leave our bodies?

By identifying your fear, you are more than half way to conquering it and creating the life and  career success you deserve.  Action is the antidote to fear. In most cases, you’ll choose wisely and your fears won’t be realized.  In the cases when you choose poorly, you’ll find that failure isn’t as catastrophic as you imagined.  Successful people learn from their failures.

By taking action on your fears, you win on both counts.  You win if you make a good decision and things work out.  You even win if you make a bad decision and things go poorly, because you have an opportunity to learn from your decision and the subsequent problems you faced.

As Paul Simon says, “A good day ain’t got no rain.  A bad day’s when I think of things that might have been.”  Don’t let fear rob you of the career success that might have been.

The career success coach point here is simple common sense.  Successful people are self-confident.  Self-confident people face their fears and act.  They follow the career advice in Tweet 45 in Success Tweets.  “Everyone is afraid sometime.  Self-confident people face their fears and act.  Look your fears in the eye and do something.”  Procrastination is the physical manifestation of fear.  When you find yourself procrastinating, figure out what scares you about the situation.  Is it fear of failure?  Is it fear of success? Is it fear of rejection?  Is it fear of being embarrassed?  Is it fear of the unknown?  Once you’ve figured out why you are afraid, do three things: admit your fear to yourself; embrace your fear; take action.  Action is the antidote to fear and an important career success key.

That’s my career advice on fear and career success.  What do you think?  Please take a minute to share your thoughts with us in a comment.  As always, thanks for reading my daily musings on life and career success.  I value you, and I appreciate you.

Bud

PS: If you haven’t already done so, you can download a free copy of my latest career success book Success Tweets Explained.  It’s a whopping 390 + pages of career advice explaining each of the common sense tweets in Success Tweets in detail.  Go to http://budurl.com/STExp to claim your free copy.  You’ll also start receiving my daily life and career success quotes.

PPS: I opened my new membership site on September 1.  It’s called My Corporate Climb and is devoted to helping people create career success inside large corporations.  To celebrate the grand opening, I’m giving away a new book I’ve written called I Want YOU…To Succeed in Your Corporate Climb. You can find out about the membership site and get your free copy of I Want YOU by going to http://www.mycorporateclimb.com.

Today’s career advice comes from Shakespeare.  In Measure for Measure he says, “Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we might win, by fearing to attempt.”  I always tell my career success coach clients that fear is a career success killer – you have to look your fears in the eye and do something.

Tweet 45 in my career advice book Success Tweets says, “Everyone is afraid sometime.  Self-confident people face their fears and act.  Look your fears in the eye and do something.”

Fear is the enemy of self-confidence.  Self-confident people face their fears and act.  Procrastination is the manifestation of fear.  When I find myself procrastinating, I stop and ask myself “What are you afraid of here, Bud?”

Usually, the answer is on the 12 most common fears on the list below.  Which of these stop you from moving forward toward your career success?  What are you doing about them?

1. Fear of failure – This type of fear has its roots in the misconception that everything you do has to be 100% successful.
2. Fear of success – This type of fear is based on the idea that success is likely to mean more responsibility and attention, coupled with pressure to continue to perform at a high level.
3. Fear of being judged – This type of fear comes from the need for approval that most people develop in childhood.
4. Fear of emotional pain – This type of fear is rooted in wanting to avoid potential negative consequences of your actions.
5. Fear of embarrassment – This type of fear is a result of empowering others to judge you when you demonstrate that you’re only human by making mistakes and having lapses of judgment.
6. Fear of being abandoned or being alone – This type of fear is related to rejection and low self-esteem.
7. Fear of rejection – This type of fear comes from personalizing what others do and say.
8. Fear of expressing your true feelings – This type of fear holds you back from engaging in open, honest dialogue with the people in your life.
9. Fear of intimacy – This type of fear manifests itself by an unwillingness to let others get too close, lest they discover the “real you.”
10. Fear of the unknown – This type of fear manifests itself as needless worry about all of the bad things that could happen if you decide to make a change in your life.
11. Fear of loss – This type of fear is related to the potential pain associated with no longer having something or someone of emotional significance to you.
12. Fear of death – The ultimate fear of the unknown.  What will happen once our spirits leave our bodies?

By identifying your fear, you are more than half way to conquering it and creating the life and  career success you deserve.  Action is the antidote to fear. In most cases, you’ll choose wisely and your fears won’t be realized.  In the cases when you choose poorly, you’ll find that failure isn’t as catastrophic as you imagined.  Successful people learn from their failures.

By taking action on your fears, you win on both counts.  You win if you make a good decision and things work out.  You even win if you make a bad decision and things go poorly, because you have an opportunity to learn from your decision and the subsequent problems you faced.

As Paul Simon says, “A good day ain’t got no rain.  A bad day’s when I think of things that might have been.”  Don’t let fear rob you of the career success that might have been.

The career success coach point here is simple common sense.  Successful people are self-confident.  Self-confident people face their fears and act.  They follow the career advice in Tweet 45 in Success Tweets.  “Everyone is afraid sometime.  Self-confident people face their fears and act.  Look your fears in the eye and do something.”  Procrastination is the physical manifestation of fear.  When you find yourself procrastinating, figure out what scares you about the situation.  Is it fear of failure?  Is it fear of success? Is it fear of rejection?  Is it fear of being embarrassed?  Is it fear of the unknown?  Once you’ve figured out why you are afraid, do three things: admit your fear to yourself; embrace your fear; take action.  Action is the antidote to fear and an important career success key.

That’s my career advice on fear and career success.  What do you think?  Please take a minute to share your thoughts with us in a comment.  As always, thanks for reading my daily musings on life and career success.  I value you, and I appreciate you.

Bud

PS: If you haven’t already done so, you can download a free copy of my latest career success book Success Tweets Explained.  It’s a whopping 390 + pages of career advice explaining each of the common sense tweets in Success Tweets in detail.  Go to http://budurl.com/STExp to claim your free copy.  You’ll also start receiving my daily life and career success quotes.

PPS: I opened my new membership site on September 1.  It’s called My Corporate Climb and is devoted to helping people create career success inside large corporations.  To celebrate the grand opening, I’m giving away a new book I’ve written called I Want YOU…To Succeed in Your Corporate Climb. You can find out about the membership site and get your free copy of I Want YOU by going to http://www.mycorporateclimb.com.

As usual, the January 2011 issue of SUCCESS Magazine has some great life and career success advice.  Are you a subscriber?  If not, I suggest you subscribe to this great print mag as soon as you finish reading this post.

In an article entitled “The 6 Deadly Fears of Entrepreneurship” Beth Douglass Silcox lists six fears common to entrepreneurs.  I think these six fears apply to everyone – not just entrepreneurs.  Take a look…

• Fear of Failure
• Fear of Inadequacy
• Fear of Risks
• Fear of Financial Insecurity
• Fear of What Others Will Think
• Fear of Growth

Before we go on, let me say some things about fear.  Fear is normal.  Fear is common.  Fear is human.  And fear is a career success killer. 

We’re all afraid sometime.  Successful people face their fears and act.  I’ve learned a few things about fear over the years.  Fear breeds indifference.  Indifference breeds self doubt and worry. Often, it’s easier to go with the flow and do nothing than attempt to do something of which you’re afraid.  When you say to yourself “It’s OK, it doesn’t really matter anyway,” ask the next question – “What am I afraid of here?”  Identifying your fear is the first step in dealing with it.

Self doubt is a form of negative self talk. Our words can become self-fulfilling prophecies. Positive self talk leads to success.  Negative self talk leads to fear and failure.

If you catch yourself saying things like “I can’t do this; I’ll never be successful; I’ll never get out of this mess,” then you never will. 

If you say things like “I can do this; I have what it takes to succeed; I can solve this problem,” then you will.

Worry and excessive caution will paralyze you and stop your quest for career success dead in its tracks. Some people spend so much time worrying about the bad things that could or might happen that they never take action and actually do something to prove that good things happen too. Worrying too much can bring you and your life to a screeching halt.

A boat that never leaves the harbor is pretty safe. However, it is not doing what it is meant to be doing. The same is true for people. If you never take a risk, you’ll never know what you are capable of accomplishing.

Fear is a confidence and career success killer.  Tweet 46 in Success Tweets, my latest career advice book lists four steps for dealing with the fears that can sabotage your life and career success:

1. Identify it.
2. Admit it.
3. Accept it.
4. Do something about it.

Let’s look at how you can use these four steps to beat the fear that is holding you back from achieving the life and career success you want and deserve.

1. Identify what you fear.  Figure out why you’re afraid. Is it fear of failure?  Is it fear of inadequacy?  Is it fear of risks?  Is it fear of financial insecurity?  Is it fear of what others will think?  Is it fear of growth? Is it fear of making the wrong decision?  Is it fear of a lost opportunity?  Are you afraid that you aren’t up to task?  Once you identify the reason behind your fear, you are well on the way to overcoming it.
2. Admit what you fear.  It’s OK to be afraid. You wouldn’t be human if you were never afraid. A common definition of courage is the ability to feel fear and still do what you need to do regardless. In 1988, I faced a very frightening decision. Should I stay in a comfortable but ultimately unsatisfying job with a large corporation, or should I start my own business?  I was afraid of failing.  Failing would mean that I would lose my savings and have to start over again, looking for a job in another corporation.  However, once I identified and admitted my fear, I was able to take the next step – acceptance.
3. Accept what you fear.  Accepting your fear is important, because it shows that you know you’re human.  Once I accepted that I was afraid of failing, I was able to start my business and succeed.  In fact, I embraced my fear of failure. It made me work harder; it pushed me to work the long hours and learn the entrepreneurship lessons necessary to be successful as a self employed career success coach, consultant and speaker.
4. Take action.  Action cures fear.  It is the most important of these four steps. Do something! The worst thing that can happen is that you’ll find it was the wrong thing to do – and you will have eliminated at least one thing from your list of possible actions.

The common sense career success coach point here is simple.  Successful people don’t let fear sabotage their self confidence and career success.  They follow the career advice in Tweet 46 in Success Tweets.  “Four steps for dealing with fear that can sabotage your success: identify it, admit it, accept it, do something about it.” 

Action is the antidote to fear. In most cases, you’ll make good decisions and your fears won’t be realized.  In the cases when you choose poorly, you’ll find that failure isn’t as catastrophic as you imagined.  Successful people learn from their failures.  By taking action on your fears, you win on both counts. You win if you make a good decision and things work out.  You even win if you make a bad decision and things go poorly, because you have an opportunity to learn from your decision and the subsequent problems you faced.

That’s my career advice on dealing with the fears that can sabotage your career success.  What do you think?  Please take a minute to share your thoughts with us in a comment.  As always, thanks for reading – and don’t forget these four steps the next time you find fear interfering with your life and career success.

Bud

On Monday, I tweeted this bit of career advice.  “When fear knocks on your door, answer.  You’ll probably find that you are the only one there.”

This is true so often.  We let our fears stop us from creating the life and career success we deserve.

I love the acronym for fear.

F    False

E    Evidence

A    Appearing

R    Real

All too often fear stops us dead in our tracks.  We quit on ourselves.  We don’t take advantage of opportunities to create the life and career success we deserve because of fear.  Usually it’s a fear of failure or a fear of rejection that stop us in our tracks.  However, sometimes we fear success so much that we don’t follow through on opportunities.

Tweet 46 in Success Tweets says, “Four steps for dealing with fear that can sabotage your career success: identify it, admit it, accept it, do something about it.”

Procrastination is the physical manifestation of fear.  That’s why when I find myself procrastinating, I ask a simple question, “What are you afraid of here, Bud?”  The answer to that question helps me and will help you identify what you fear and is step one in dealing with fear. 

Once you’ve identified what you fear, own up to it.  Admit it and accept it.  It’s OK to be afraid.  John Wayne, the American movie star once said, “Courage is being scared to death, and saddling up any way.” 

You have to admit and accept your fear before you can take the fourth step in beating fear: doing something.  Action cures fear.  Inaction perpetuates it.  Even if you fail, you have the opportunity to learn something from your failure.  And as Mike Ditka says, “Failure is rarely fatal.”  I like this idea because it makes a subtle point.  You have to fail every once in a while in order to realize that it’s not the end of the world.  Successful people fail all the time.  Only they get back up and try again.

So the common sense career success coach point here may be counter intuitive but it is important career advice.  When fear knocks on your door, answer.  You’ll probably find that you are the only one there.  In other words, you are your own worst enemy when you let your fears stop you from pursuing your life and career success dreams.  The next time you find yourself paralyzed by fear, remember my four steps for dealing with and overcoming fear: 1) Identify what you fear. 2) Admit your fear.  3) Accept your fear.  4) Do something about your fear.  When you apply this simple four step formula, you’ll find that your fears will no longer paralyze you into inaction, and you’ll begin creating the life and career success you want and deserve.

That’s my take on my career advice for overcoming fear.  What’s yours?  Please take a few minutes to share your thoughts with us in a comment.  As always, thanks for reading.

Bud

On Monday, I tweeted this bit of career advice.  “When fear knocks on your door, answer.  You’ll probably find that you are the only one there.”

This is true so often.  We let our fears stop us from creating the life and career success we deserve.

I love the acronym for fear.

F    False

E    Evidence

A    Appearing

R    Real

All too often fear stops us dead in our tracks.  We quit on ourselves.  We don’t take advantage of opportunities to create the life and career success we deserve because of fear.  Usually it’s a fear of failure or a fear of rejection that stop us in our tracks.  However, sometimes we fear success so much that we don’t follow through on opportunities.

Tweet 46 in Success Tweets says, “Four steps for dealing with fear that can sabotage your career success: identify it, admit it, accept it, do something about it.”

Procrastination is the physical manifestation of fear.  That’s why when I find myself procrastinating, I ask a simple question, “What are you afraid of here, Bud?”  The answer to that question helps me and will help you identify what you fear and is step one in dealing with fear. 

Once you’ve identified what you fear, own up to it.  Admit it and accept it.  It’s OK to be afraid.  John Wayne, the American movie star once said, “Courage is being scared to death, and saddling up any way.” 

You have to admit and accept your fear before you can take the fourth step in beating fear: doing something.  Action cures fear.  Inaction perpetuates it.  Even if you fail, you have the opportunity to learn something from your failure.  And as Mike Ditka says, “Failure is rarely fatal.”  I like this idea because it makes a subtle point.  You have to fail every once in a while in order to realize that it’s not the end of the world.  Successful people fail all the time.  Only they get back up and try again.

So the common sense career success coach point here may be counter intuitive but it is important career advice.  When fear knocks on your door, answer.  You’ll probably find that you are the only one there.  In other words, you are your own worst enemy when you let your fears stop you from pursuing your life and career success dreams.  The next time you find yourself paralyzed by fear, remember my four steps for dealing with and overcoming fear: 1) Identify what you fear. 2) Admit your fear.  3) Accept your fear.  4) Do something about your fear.  When you apply this simple four step formula, you’ll find that your fears will no longer paralyze you into inaction, and you’ll begin creating the life and career success you want and deserve.

That’s my take on my career advice for overcoming fear.  What’s yours?  Please take a few minutes to share your thoughts with us in a comment.  As always, thanks for reading.

Bud

I’m still writing about the ideas in my new career success coach book, Success Tweets: 140 Bits of Common Sense Career Success Advice, All in 140 Characters or Less.  I have about 100 more blog posts to go.  When I’m finished, you’ll have an in depth discussion on each of the 141 tweets in Success Tweets.  You can get a free copy of the eBook at www.SuccessTweets.com.  Hard copies of the book are available on Amazon.com and your local bookstore.

Today’s career success coach post in on Tweet 45…

Everyone is afraid sometime.  Self confident people face their fears and act.  Look your fears in the eye and do something.

Fear is the enemy of self confidence.  Self confident people face their fears and act.  Procrastination is the manifestation of fear.   When I find myself procrastinating, I stop and ask myself “What are you afraid of here, Bud?”

Usually, the answer is on the 12 most common fears on the list below.  Which of these stop you from moving forward?   What are you doing about them?

1. Fear of failure – This type of fear has its roots in the misconception that everything you do has to be 100% successful.

Fear of success – This type of fear is based on the idea that success is likely to mean more responsibility and attention, coupled with pressure to continue to perform at a high level.

Fear of being judged – This type of fear comes from the need for approval that most people develop in childhood.

Fear of emotional pain – This type of fear is rooted in wanting to avoid potential negative consequences of your actions.

Fear of embarrassment – This type of fear is a result of empowering others to judge you when you demonstrate that you’re only human by making mistakes and having lapses of judgment.

Fear of being abandoned or being alone – This type of fear is related to rejection and low self esteem.

Fear of rejection – This type of fear comes from personalizing what others do and say.

Fear of expressing your true feelings – This type of fear holds you back from engaging in open, honest dialogue with the people in your life.

Fear of intimacy – This type of fear manifests itself by an unwillingness to let others get too close, less they discover the “real you.”

Fear of the unknown – This type of fear manifests itself as needless worry about all of the bad things that could happen if you decide to make a change in your life.

Fear of loss – This type of fear is related to the potential pain associated with no longer having something or someone of emotional significance to you.

Fear of death – The ultimate fear of the unknown.  What will happen once our spirits leave our bodies?

By identifying your fear, you are more than half way to conquering it.   In the next post, I will present my four step plan for dealing with fear.

But in the meantime, remember this career advice.  Action is the antidote to fear. In most cases, you’ll choose wisely and your fears won’t be realized. In the cases when you choose poorly, you’ll find that failure isn’t as catastrophic as you imagined. Successful people learn from their failures. By taking action on your fears, you win on both counts. You win if you make a good decision and things work out. You even win if you make a bad decision and things go poorly, because you have an opportunity to learn from your decision and the subsequent problems you faced.

The common sense career success coach point here is simple.  Successful people are self confident.  Self confident people face their fears and act.  They follow the career advice in Tweet 45 in Success Tweets.  “Everyone is afraid sometime.  Self confident people face their fears and act.  Look your fears in the eye and do something.”  Procrastination is the physical manifestation of fear.  When you find yourself procrastinating, figure out what scares you about the situation.  Is it fear of failure?  Is it fear of success? Is it fear of rejection?  Is it fear of being embarrassed?  Is it fear of the unknown?  Once you’ve figured out why you are afraid, do three things; admit your fear to yourself, embrace your fear, take action.  Action is the antidote to fear. 

That’s my take on the career advice in Tweet 45 in Success Tweets – dealing with your fears.  What’s yours?  Please take a few minutes to leave a comment sharing your thoughts with us.  As always, thanks for reading.

Bud