I recently read a blog post by Seth Godin, entitled “Conservation of Anxiety” . He writes about how our fears of performing well, in circumstances such as giving a speech, are non-scalable. For example, the fear of public speaking is one that pervades many people; a newly inaugurated President giving a speech to 10 million people is no different than a 5th grader giving a speech to a classroom of 12 year olds. It is the same chemical reaction in your brain that triggers this fight or flight reaction, and it can be controlled with understanding of its source and experience.

Godin goes on to describe how “if that sales call is right down the street, you will probably put more anxiousness into the preparation for the meeting than if it’s two plane rides and a ferry away, because you’ll be reserving some of your available agita for the transport”. I can’t possibly agree with this statement more.  I find from my own experience, that I have absolutely more fear over picking up the phone to do a cold call to a customer I’ve never spoken to, trying to drum up some business, than traveling across three time zones to give a speech in front of 100 customers I do not know, who are all atleast 20+ years older than I am.   I traveled to Scottsdale, Arizona, back in April to inform employees of a partner organization about my company.  The energy expelled traveling across the country, thinking about what I had to do, was so exhausting that by the time I had arrived and had to give the presentation, I was ready to just get it over with.

I’ve found that preparation and practice are two essential tools to overcoming the fear of most challenges. Inversely, in some situations it is best to jump right into things, without much preparation and having confidence in your own abilities in being able to “wing it”.  The decision to implement either technique depends on the severity of the potential outcome.  I would not “wing” a heart transplant with out doing some due dilligence in preparation (whatever that might be….I’m not a heart surgeon).  This inverse approach proved very necessary when I recently went skydiving for the first time, the more time I put into thinking about the act and “preparing” for the jump, the more fear came over me.  The best approach was to not think about it at all, and just jump.  After all, it was tandem, and I was strapped to an experience jumper.

Another trick that helps in overcoming fear, is to visualize two items: 1) focusing on the best possible outcome that could occur, and 2) the feeling you will have when overcoming that challenge successfully.

One more tip: when you find yourself feeling nervous for whatever reason, squeeze both fists as hard as you can, and you will feel your muscles in your face and jaw relax.  I don’t know what this is called, or why, but it works.  It is the same as squeezing a stress-ball or just overall strength training/fitness to reduce stress.

With the recent London Olympics having just concluded on Sunday, I imagine throughout the games, many athletes were faced with similar fears – of failure, rejection, letting down his or her country or family, etc.  The U.S. Olympic team employs 5 sports psychologists that traveled with the athletes to London, where they are assigned different teams and individual athletes.  The burden of carrying the “olympic torch”, competing for a gold medal, can be very strenuous for athletes, psycologically.  It is a proven scientific fact that mental health has as much effect on performance as does physical health.  This is why it is so important to challenge one’s self both mentally and physically.

A quote that I’ve always really liked and have tried to live by: “life begins at the edge of your comfort zone” (Neale Donald Walsch).  Indeed, life begins only when you have begun to face your fears.

I write this from a hotel room in Jacksonville, FL.  Tomorrow I have one more sales call before heading home to Pennsylvania.  I have a tendency to make blog posts when I travel, as this is when my thoughts are most active: alone in a hotel room, bored as hell, with a new day of challenges ahead.  I feel as if, for me, life has just begun….