You see, there are two kinds of fear in the world, good and bad.

Good fear comes from the logical mind, and is often called discernment. Good fear prevents us from walking out into heavy traffic or making other foolish decisions.

Bad fear can prevent good things from happening. Bad fear comes from the inner mind.

Have you ever feared being alone, failing in business, or not achieving your dreams?

More than one powerful woman has shared with me their fears of being alone for the rest of their lives. I’d like to share with you another fear expressed by a three time corporate president and CEO of a major international company. This woman owned multiple residential properties and yet she shared her fear of becoming a bag lady. You would say this is entirely irrational, and you’d be right. However, when she faced leaving corporate life and going forward with a consulting practice, these fears were juiced like energizer bunnies. I call these thoughts, the irrational fear, “fearleaders”

Fear holds back determined, focused, progressive, creative professional women from going after their deepest desires, their passions and their dreams.

Does fear hold you back?

Are you a professional woman in control of your life? If so you may be in a tug of war between rational and irrational fear.

What can you do?

First identify the Fearleaders in your life. Fearleaders are easy to identify, they are people who might have caused you to be fearful and are now personifications of the fears themselves. One example is the internalized voice of a critical parent, now a part of you that thinks “who do I think I am?”

Fearleaders put a wet blanket over your passions.

Fearleaders question your instincts, evaluate and dissect your brainstorms, minimize your needs and find rational excuses to say No.

Now that you have raised your awareness and labeled who your fearleaders are, I suggest giving them tea. Yes, that’s right. Give your fearleader a cup of herbal tea. If you try to banish a critic you give the critic additional ammunition. The same is true when you discount your fears, they grow stronger. Acknowledge the presence of your fearleader and proceed to redirect your energy.
Redirect your energy to your cheerleaders.

Cheerleaders are people who encourage us.

Sadly during times of transition, disappointment and defeat, internal fearleaders win at tug of war. They drag our, affirmation reciting, cheerleaders right through the mud. The power of negative thinking is stronger that the power of intention, affirmations and wishful thinking.

Cheerleaders are people who won’t commiserate with you for very long. Feeling sorry for themselves is not an everyday characteristic among the pros. Depressed women don’t make the cut either. Cheerleader are active. They are able to comfort you when hurt, yet quickly assess how they can support your next action.

Cheerleaders today come in all shapes and sizes. They are sexy, high energy, well organized, spirited individuals with a message.

Perhaps the outstanding characteristic of all cheerleaders is that they want you to win.

Time for tryouts.

Take time now to describe the first cheerleader you have chosen to be on your squad.

List the individual qualities this cheerleader brings.

Remember cheerleaders, like fearleaders, can have a powerful impact on how we play the game of life.

When what you want to say Yes to is a desire, passion or dream you have not fully allowed yourself to explore, keep adding cheerleaders until you can say Yes in the face of Fear.

Nanci Weston Adair, MA, LCPC
GoalModel Life Coaching
11 Rowe Avenue, Portland, ME 04102
Nanci@goalmodel.com
Nanci Weston Adair MA, LCPC Founder of The GoalModel MethodTM.

Nanci is a delightful and energetic presenter. She brings 30+ years of dedicated service in the holistic health field together with a lifelong passion for metaphysics. Coaching clients describe Nanci as challenging, encouraging and strategic. Nanci has delivered seminars to business leaders and corporations across the U.S. Nanci has recently completed her book on The GoalModel Method for personal and professional achievement. Nanci maintains a home, studio and business in Portland, Maine.

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