Shawn Ellis explains how to tell real fear from imagined danger. If the threat is real, stabilize first: practice health precautions, review cash flow, cut expenses. Once you're steady, shift focus to your vision and values to move from surviving to thriving.
Hey guys, it's Shawn here. Hope you are doing well, staying safe wherever you are. In this video, I want to talk just a little bit about fear and how fear can serve you in this time. Because I've talked about fear and how that's not the state of resourcefulness we need to move forward, but I don't want to overlook something that's really important regarding fear in terms of how it can actually serve you in this time. It's something that we don't want to miss. In this time. And something that I'm remembering for myself, because right now we're all kind of dealing with this upheaval and trying to figure out how we adapt. And maybe you're feeling fear or anxiety from the loss of a job or loss of income. Maybe it's changes in your business. Maybe it's just changes in your way of life and work with, you know, being at home, the kids at home, maybe your spouse and partners at home. There's just change all around. There's uncertainty all around. And when things feel out of control, that's when we get afraid. It registers as danger. And again, that's not the feeling or the resource, the state that's going to allow us to move forward. But we don't want to just jump right past that because here's what— here's how fear can serve you or how you can let it serve you during this time. You know, for me, for example, as a business owner, you know, I see my business is not the same as it used to be. Like, my business is primarily based on live events, and either myself or other speakers I work with going out and speaking in front of groups of people. And that's not happening right now, so that has a direct impact on revenue. And, and, you know, that can be scary. I've been through enough change and enough uncertainty and developed skills and strategies and the ability to rise up in the face of that, so I'm not really in a state of fear, but it still registers as danger, like something we need to pay attention to. And you know, where I want to go from there is to focus on my vision and values and priorities and purpose and use that to rise up and decide what's next. And that's good, but there's something else that we need to do first. When you feel fear, again, it's your body telling you, "Hey, there's some danger here," and we have to examine whether that danger is real or whether it's just perceived. Because some things register as danger that aren't really dangerous. But if, you know, if all of a sudden your cash flow, your revenue stream, your income, if all of a sudden that's been affected and that's not there anymore, well, that is something real because that's something we've got to address. We need money, right, to pay the mortgage, to pay the rent, to buy groceries, keep the lights on, whatever it is. So that's a real, a very real factor. So when you feel fear or anxiety, See what that's telling you. See, just allow that to be there, and instead of just like trying to push back against it or, or deny it or pretend it's not there, see what it's telling you. Is there something here that you really do need to address? Like, for example, if you're a business owner, then, or in any case, if you see income is being affected, then that might be a cue to look at your expenses and see Are there some expenses that have inflated over time that it's been okay when things are comfortable and it's okay, like, okay, I can just tolerate that. There's that $9.95 a month, that's not really affecting me, and you just kind of let it go. But now, maybe now is the time to look, am I really using that subscription or whatever it is? What expenses do you have? What overhead do you have? Look at it and see, is that something that's serving you at this time? Is that something that's going to serve you moving forward? Or is that something you should cut out? And look at other areas of your life, not just finances. But if fear is there, see if there is a real danger that it's attached to, and then see what you should do about it. Like, for example, we know just related to the virus itself, like, okay, well, I should wash my hands. Like, if I'm afraid I might get the virus and then I'm not gonna listen to that, I'm just gonna push through the fear, and then I'm not gonna wash my hands, I'm gonna go out, I'm gonna live life as usual, business as usual. Well, that's not, that's not so smart. There are things we need to pay attention to. So we wash our hands. So we stay at home. We limit times we go out to, you know, when it's necessary and safe and all those kind of things. That's important. Looking at your finances, looking at other areas of your life. Is fear telling you something that you really should listen to? Something just to stabilize the situation. That's what you might want to think of it as—stabilizing the situation. Fear is not going to help you rise up. It's not going to help you move forward, but it is important in this moment to stabilize the situation. And then from there, then we look into to tap into, you know, our vision, our values, our purpose. We tap into those more empowering states, more empowering thoughts, which will allow us to move forward, to make the shifts that we need to move forward.. But before we get so excited and move forward and think, oh, it's all going to be fine, listen to the fear, listen to the anxiety, see if there's something there that's telling you that you need to pay attention to, some adjustments that you need to make. Then make those adjustments and thank the fear for being there to serve you, because it is there to serve you. And, you know, if maybe some of the fear is from things that really aren't real and you say, well, thank you, fear, for for pointing that out. It's actually okay. I'm okay. Like, I appreciate that, but I don't need that right now. And then we move forward. But first of all, feel the fear, listen to it, see what it's telling you, see if there are certain actions you need to take right now, and then look at how we can move forward in a more resourceful, more empowering way. And I'll talk more about that on future videos. And if you need help with any of this, just reach out. I'm here to, uh, to serve. This is my specialty, helping people and organizations deal with uncertainty and change and how do you rise up in the face of that and shift from survival mode to thriving. But for now, I just wanted to talk about the good side of fear and make sure that you're listening to the messages that are there. So I hope that serves you. Stay well, stay safe, and see you again soon.
Shawn Ellis | Choose Your Ending™ — Radical Adaptability Keynote Speaker Highlights
