Jack Canfield gives a short coaching/talk on moving from fear into purposeful action. He explains how fear shifts blood to the amygdala and reduces prefrontal-cortex functioning, then leads listeners through grounding and a guided six-count breathing exercise to return to present-moment calm. He teaches directing attention intentionally (sensory checks), recommends focusing on solution-oriented news and learning new skills, and encourages visualizing desired outcomes. He also recommends EFT/Tapping (referring to his book Tapping into Ultimate Success) and directs viewers to jackcanfield.com and the video description for further resources. The talk closes with typical YouTube engagement prompts (like, comment, subscribe).
Chapters
How do you get out of fear and into action? This is a question that one of my breakthrough to success online students recently asked me. This is something that a lot of people struggle with, especially during times of great stress and uncertainty. So today I'd like to share some strategies on what to do when you find yourself going into a place of fear and how to find the courage you need to take purposeful action toward your goals, even when you're stressed out or scared. I recently heard someone say panic is a terrible financial planner, because when you're in a state of panic, obviously you're not in a good place to make well considered decisions about your financial future. Fear makes it so much harder for you to think clearly and make good decisions. And when you're in fear, the blood in your brain goes to the amygdala in the back of your brain, and it minimizes the blood flow to your prefrontal cortex, which is where the executive and the leadership function of your brain is. This is where decisions are made and rational thinking occurs, and also where creativity, spiritual awareness, and mindfulness, all of these things take place in your prefrontal cortex as well. So when all the blood goes into the amygdala, you use the ability to think rationally and creatively and make mindful decisions Instead. You go into fight or flight mode, or what my friend John Gray calls faint or fall. You either run away, you fight, or you may even pass out, as some people do. And obviously none of these responses are going to help you deal effectively with whatever you need to deal with right now. And when we're talking about fear, it's important to remember that fear is always about something that hasn't happened yet. It's imaginary, it's in the future, it's something that could possibly happen in the future, but it's not actually real. It's not happening to you now. It's only happening in your imagination. So the first thing you need to do is take yourself out of the imaginary and focus on what's real so you can free yourself from the psychological impact it's having on you and get back into a state of calm, rational and creative thought. And the best way to do that is to ground yourself in the present moment and focus on the here and now. So let's take a moment to do that right now and come into the present space. So what's going on for you right now in reality? In reality, you're probably sitting in front of your computer monitor or your cell phone or your iPad or whatever, and, and you're watching this video, and more than likely your house is not burning down. No one's dying in the room next door. The toilet's not overflowing. There's enough toilet paper to get you through the next week. And you have food in the refrigerator. Now you have everything you need to be okay in this present moment, so you can focus on that what's truly going on right now. Now, a really powerful way to come into the present moment is to focus on your breath. So let's just take a few deep breaths right now, and I'm going to lead you through a count. So let's ex. Let's start by inhaling for the count of six. Let's go. One, two, three, four, five, six. And then exhale. One, two, three, Four, five, six. And then inhale. One, two, three thousand four, five, six. And Then exhale. One, two, Three, four, five, six. Now, to bring you even more into that awareness, go ahead and close your eyes. And with your eyes closed, go ahead and continue that six count breathing. And as you continue to do that, place your awareness either on the sensation you feel in your nostrils, you can feel the coolness of the air as it comes into your nose and lungs, or perhaps the heat if you're somewhere really warm. And then notice how as the air comes out of your nose, it tends to feel a little warmer because it's been heated by being in your lungs. So just focus on that for a moment. Now with your eyes still closed. Another thing you can focus on to keep yourself in the present mind is, is to focus on your breathing in terms of the rise and fall of your chest and stomach as you breathe in and out. So for the next breath or two, just notice the sensation of your chest and your stomach expanding as you inhale and contracting as you exhale. Go ahead and feel the feeling of that. With your eyes still closed. Keep breathing, focusing on the rise and fall of your chest and stomach. You see, most of us tend to breathe shallowly, so actually make sure you're extending your stomach as you breathe, breathing deep down into your belly. You probably noticed sometimes when you get upset, someone says, hey, man, slow down. Take a breath. So, literally, when we focus on our breathing, it brings us into a state of calm, a state of being in the present moment. So go ahead now and open your eyes and feel yourself here in this present moment. Notice your immediate surroundings and the physical sensations you're experiencing. This is the only moment that truly matters. Okay? So once you're more fully present in the moment, the next thing I'd like you to think about is where you're focusing your awareness. We just focused it on our breathing, but you have the power to direct your awareness and your attention anywhere you want. It's an intentional thing you can do anytime. And for example, right now, I want you to become aware of what you're feeling in your left foot. And now become aware of what you're feeling in your right hand. Become aware of what you're feeling as you breathe in and out in your stomach and chest again. And then as you look into your environment, become aware of the dominant color that you're looking at right now might be the color of my shirt, or it might be something in your own space. Wherever you are. And now become aware of what thoughts you're thinking right this second. And now become aware of what you're feeling in your right foot. Now, as you can see, you have a choice about where you direct your attention, where you put your focus. And you can choose to place your awareness on information that generates positive and empowering thoughts and emotions, or you can choose to focus on information that stresses you out and makes you feel helpless. For example, right now with this whole pandemic situation, some people are turning into the news every three hours to see how many more thousands of people have died. Well, how does that serve you? Does it make your life better in any way or help you achieve your goals? Or does it just add more fear and stress into your life? I'm not saying you should ignore the news, but you don't have to focus all of your attention on it all the time. And when you do follow the news, ask yourself if you're reading or watching stories and reports that focus on the problems or on the solutions. For example, you can focus on the rising death count, or you can read about all of the scientific advances that are happening, or about what you can do yourself to boost your own immune system and protect yourself against the disease. You can read dire predictions about the economy, or you can spend your time learning about how business is likely to evolve during this time and look for opportunities that you can leverage in your own business or career. Or maybe start a new business while you're home. Learn a new skill, become more valuable. Now, you can spend hours scrolling through all the complaining and arguing on Facebook or Twitter. Or you could read an uplifting book and watch an enlightening TED Talk or your favorite comedy show so you can boost your serotonin levels through laughter. Now remember, you always have a choice about where to put your attention and where your Attention goes Energy flows so you can focus your attention on your fears, which are just really fantasized experiences appearing real. Or you can focus your attention on the things that uplift and inspire you. And if you're going to fantasize about the future, focus on your desired future, not the one you're afraid of. Visualize yourself generating the kind of income you want. Visualize your relationships working. Visualize yourself achieving your ideal weight and looking and feeling great in your clothes. Visualize yourself overcoming any challenges that you're facing, because that is how you overcome your fear. And find the courage to take action in the face of the unknown by focusing on what you want, not what you don't want, and knowing that even if things go sideways, you will be able to learn from your challenges and bounce back even stronger than before. So those are some of the thoughts on how to get out of fear and into action. Use your breath to get into the present moment. Remember that your fears are imaginary. Focus your attention on things that uplift and empower you, and have faith and belief that things will turn out in a way that serves you. Now, if you find it challenging to do this, I encourage you to give EFT or Tapping Therapy a try. It's a very powerful tool that helps you dissolve negative thoughts and replace them with positive ones. Dissolve negative feelings and replace them with positive ones. And you can check out my book Tapping into Ultimate Success for more information on tapping. It's available on my website@jackcampfield.com or on Amazon or your favorite online bookstore. Now, in the meantime, whenever you find yourself feeling overwhelmed by fear and remember to breathe and focus on the here and now. It's the first and most important step you can take to cultivate the positive mindset that you need to take action and create a life that you truly love. And let me know what you think in the comments. So thanks again for watching. And remember, you can achieve anything you can imagine in life. It just takes that first step. Now, if you find this video helpful, please make sure you like it, share it with a friend who may need it, and subscribe to my channel for more videos like this one. Subscribe. And for some additional exercises and tools for taking action in spite of your fear, make sure to visit jackcampfield.com and check out the links in the description below.
