Have you ever had that thing happen where you get something new and, suddenly, you see that new thing everywhere?
As an example, you buy a new red car and then you see red cars everywhere.
In fact, this phenomenon is often called “Red Car Syndrome.”
Another form of it is the “Baader-Meinhof Effect,” or it is some form of “Confirmation Bias.”
I’m sure you have all experienced this in one way or another at some time in your life.
As I continue to study and speak about fear and courage I am amazed at how much I see it in everyday life. It’s like a red car or when your wife gets pregnant. You see red cars or pregnant ladies everywhere.
I recently finished coaching a person in a managerial position. She was faced with having to put a long time employee on a performance plan that might lead to dismissal.
This person had had several managers over the last few years and it seemed as though everyone let this person just skate through and get passed along to the next manager because they didn’t want to deal with the issues at hand.
At the core of this inability to deal with the issue is fear.
I’m currently coaching a salesperson that has an amazing ability to justify and rationalize their way out of calling on certain prospects.
At the core of this rationalization and justification is fear.
Not that long ago I had a conversation with a sales manager who was so frustrated because he was overwhelmed with all that he was doing to help his sales people.
The longer we talked it became more and more clear he was doing most of their work for them in preparing proposals and figuring out pricing.
At the core of his frustration and feeling of being overwhelmed was fear; a fear of holding his people accountable and of letting them fail.
It’s been probably close to five years since I started writing a book on my journey with fear and courage.
This past spring I really hit my stride and finished up my first draft. I had it reviewed by a book editor who provided some great, constructive feedback and positive encouragement.
I have only touched it twice since then.
At the core of this lack of progress is fear.
If you’re not familiar with Seth Godin you should be. He is a man of many talents and one of them is an ability to put big concepts into simple words so guys like me can understand them.
Just the other day, Seth wrote his blog on The Power of Fear. Here it is:
Fear will push you to avert your eyes.
Fear will make you think you have nothing to say.
It will create a buzz that makes it impossible to meditate…
or it will create a fog that makes it so you can do nothing but meditate.
Fear seduces us into losing our temper.
and fear belittles us into accepting unfairness.
Fear doesn’t like strangers, people who don’t look or act like us, and most of all, the unknown.
It causes us to carelessly make typos, or obsessively look for them.
Fear pushes us to fit in, so we won’t be noticed, but it also pushes us to rebel and to not be trustworthy, so we won’t be on the hook to produce.
It is subtle enough to trick us into thinking it isn’t pulling the strings, that it doesn’t exist, that it’s not the cause of, “I don’t feel like it.”
When in doubt, look for the fear.
The only medicine for fear is courage. If you don’t begin to take a spoonful of courage your fear will continue to drag you down and build up your ability to rationalize, justify and run away.
It seems as though when it comes to fear there are red cars all around me.
Interestingly enough, the color red is often associated with courage. When you see a red car today consider it a sign it’s time to do something courageous!
What will you do today when you recognize the symptoms of fear in your life?
2 Timothy 1:7
Have a STRONG and COURAGEOUS day!
