Face Your Fear!

It took all the strength and determination I could muster. I had never felt such paralyzing fear in my life. With each step toward the door, my feet felt heavier and heavier, my breathing became labored, and I began to sweat profusely. I knew I had to do this so, with one last deep breath, I pushed the door open and heard, "Hi, welcome to Toastmasters! What brings you here?"

My fear of public speaking goes back as far as I can remember. Oral reports in high school were always panic-inducing. In college, I waited until my last semester to take the required public speaking class (I actually considered not getting my degree because of it). I watched, in horror, the first day of initial speeches as one of my classmates walked up to the front of the room, turned around to face his audience, and passed out, hitting the back of his head on the blackboard on his way down. It confirmed what I already knew; public speaking can kill you!

After college, I eventually ended up in sales where I had to give a lot of presentations. The night before each one, I would not sleep. The anxiety was almost debilitating. After years of struggling to overcome this, I finally decided it was time to take it head on. I walked into that first Toastmaster's meeting thinking this may be my first and last (either not going back or actually dying if called on to speak). I survived. And over the years enjoyed the meetings, the friendships, and, eventually, actually speaking. I went on to compete and win several competitions. I now look forward to my sales presentations. I have even joined the National Speaker's Association and look for opportunities to speak anywhere I can. Talk about a transformation!!

What I learned through the process of overcoming my complete and utter fear of public speaking was you have to face your fear and not continue running from it. It's the only way growth can occur.

We all have fears that exert various levels of control over our lives. I know people who don't like large crowds. It cripples them just to have more than a handful of strangers around them at one time. I've seen how limiting a fear like that can be in a persons life. I know others who are afraid to step out and take a risk for fear of failure. Because of it, they stay in a perpetual state of mediocrity and stagnation. Almost more insidious than the fear of failure is the fear of success. Individuals afraid that if they achieve too much it will change them negatively or will only prove how unworthy they are for actually succeeding. So they self-sabotage, ensuring they never achieve near what they are capable of.

Today, let's identify a few of the fears that are limiting our success in life. Once identified, face that fear and take actions to eliminate if from our lives. Toastmasters was huge in helping me to "desensitize" and realize not only would speaking in public not kill me, I could actually enjoy it. That's the amazing thing about this process; after identification, confrontation, and action, not only will the fear disappear, but you will probably uncover strengths you didn't even know you had. As a Christian, I know there is an enemy that has come to "kill, steal, and destroy" us and our dreams. I am convinced this enemy attacks at our greatest gifts and talents because he knows that is where we will have the greatest impact in this world. His favorite weapon is fear. I like to say:

Face your fear and you just may find your future!

Go for it today and don't let fear hold you back ever again!!

"For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind." - 2 Timothy 1:7