Fear as a Catalyst for Personal Growth
In my book “The Truth Behind Excuses: Underperformance Explained”, I discussed how fear stops us from reaching our fullest potential and forces us to find excuses for inaction and procrastination.
I once argued that fear is not the absence of faith as it is popularly said. And fear is not the opposite of faith. I think both can co-exist and this may sound contradictory. Fear is often presented as a negative force or element but is it the fear that is negative or the response to it?
I know there are different kinds of fear, we often experience fear when we are out of our comfort zone. So, it is not the emotion in itself that cause problems, it is how we respond to it.
In my research the most prevalent fear is the fear of failure. This fear triggers more excuses than any other type of fear. And this fear is not completely bad. The absence of fear sometimes leads to sub-par performance. Because fear pushes you out of your comfort zone, it can be a catalyst for growth.
I am not about to give 5 steps of how to deal with fear today (I will subsequently). I am saying that we need to demystify fear and make it part of everyday conversation like emotional intelligence, self-reflection…so that it becomes an emotion to manage and not a mystified demon (although I think it is a demon but not a mystery).
With a growth mindset, leaders see fear as a steppingstone to improvement rather than a barrier to success. They are willing to take risks, fail, learn from failures, and persist in the face of adversity.
Of course, I am not saying pretend you have no fears, of course you do. I am saying that fear is a natural human emotion and that even the most successful leaders experience fear at times. It is what you do with fear that determines the outcome.
To learn more and see how you can turn your fears to into personal growth, get a copy of my book here.
