Scott Perry argues fear is what stops difference makers, and naming it precisely is how you work through it. He breaks fear into three types: anxiety about the future, regret about the past, and overwhelm about the present. Naming a fear makes it manageable.
Fear is a many-splendored thing. It comes in a dizzying variety of forms and flavors. When we boil what holds any difference maker back to its essence, that obstacle is some form of fear. For a long time, I found the many facets of fear an impediment to my progress. It is, after all, difficult to work with, around, or through a challenge if you can't precisely define what it is. Hey, I'm Scott Perry, Chief Difference Maker at Creative on Purpose, with today's Mindset on Purpose Insight. A lifetime of dancing with all sorts of fear in various endeavors has given me some perspective on naming a fear I'm experiencing at any given moment more precisely. Although there are dozens of words we use to describe fear, I've distilled them down into 3 categories. The first is anxiety: fear of future results that you can't control. The second is regret: unhealthy attachment to narratives about the past we can't change. And third, overwhelm: angst over the uncertainty about the present. So what's the value of these naming conventions? My childhood love of Ursula Le Guin's A Wizard of Earthsea taught me the power of naming things. Naming helps you see, accept, and identify what truly is, and helps you see, step into, and stay in your power to negotiate and navigate it. When fear comes to visit, naming it is the challenging and necessary step for finding your way through. What form is fear showing up in for you today? What's its name? What's next?
Stoics Don't Suppress Emotions, They Do This Instead #stoicism #emotionalintelligence #mindset
