Living Dreams – Overcoming Fear

8/26/18

“Too many of us are not living our dreams because we are living in our fears.” – Les Brown

Along the lines of yesterday’s Post-It Note, the path to any Dream of that worth anything will be littered with self-doubt, external criticism, and challenges along the way and any of these can create a paralyzing fear that either slows us down or halts our forward progress altogether.

Something we need to understand is that these three roots of fear don’t live in isolation – they feed each other. As one grows, so do the others. For example, self-doubt leads to a stutter-step, which causes difficulty in navigating an obstacle, which leads to external criticism. External criticism leads to more self-doubt, which leads to more errors and even less success… and the cycle continues until we slow to the point of a complete stop.

Let’s take a look at each of these three roots to see how we can overcome them:

1. Self-Doubt:
   • Visual Success by creating an high-definition video in your mind of what you will have to do to achieve your goals (step by step) and then play the video on repeat until it’s time to execute.
   • Acknowledge Your Limitations and work around them and/or develop and execute a plan to improve.
2. External Criticism:
   • Evaluate The Critics’ Hearts by listening and determining if they’re providing valid points out of love (constructive criticism) that you can use to improve or if they’re just miserable haters. If the latter is the case, then throw that stuff in the trash where it belongs and move on.
   • Gather A Like-Minded Flock that shares your vision for the future and will be your blind spot mirror, showing you the things that you’ve missed and will improve success. Always remember, “Birds of a feather flock together,” and much of your success depends on those who you call friends.
3. Challenges:
   • Develop A Plan For Success by breaking up potentially overwhelming obstacles into small wins that will build your confidence and momentum.
   • Be Realistic and ensure your plan is achievable. It’s human nature to “overbook” yourself (forgetting your limitations of time, ability, and other resources) and in doing so you choose a path that limits success.

My Girls, I Hope and Pray that you will realize that fear is the opposite of Faith, and if you’re within God’s Purpose for your Life (Keeping Life Simple), then nothing is impossible, and you should be courageous and work diligently, following the principles above to overcome fear and live out your dreams.

Challenge Question: What fears must you face TODAY in order to realize your dream tomorrow?

God’s Word: John 14:27, Joshua 1:9, Matthew 6:25-34, Isaiah 43:1, Psalm 23:4, 27:1, 34:4 & 94:19, Romans 8:38-39, 1st Peter 5:6-7, and 2nd Timothy 1:6-7