In life, we are motivated by two basic forces – love and fear.
Love opens us to the passion and excitement that love has to offer. Fear causes us to withdraw from life and hide away, terrified of hurt and pain.
Is fear holding you back from tackling life and living it to the full? It can stop you in your tracks and keep you from chasing your dreams. Often, we don’t even realize what fears are haunting us. We are terrified of failing, of losing love, of being lonely, of having to change and we’re scared of the unknown, too. Sometimes we can seem like cowardly lions.
While there is a time and place for fear and it often protects us from truly dangerous experiences, fear can also be destructive. With these six steps, you can put fear to one side and start living your life to the fullest.
1. Be Clear In Your Goals
Before you can make the most of your life, you need to know what you want to get out of it. What goals are you looking to achieve? This will help provide you with clarity and allow you to shift your focus to your priorities. Just knowing isn’t enough, though, you need to recognize potential and understand how to leverage them to move you closer to those goals.
2. Mentally Prepare
Yes, there are plenty of amazing opportunities out there just waiting for you to grab them. Not everyone can leverage all of them, but the biggest reason you can’t is a failure to prepare. You should be prepared mentally for any eventuality, have the knowledge and the skills necessary to make the most of any opportunity that comes your way.
3. Network
If you don’t have the skills or knowledge, you should know someone who does. That’s why a strong social and professional network is imperative to unlocking everything life has to offer. Not to mention that many of those opportunities could come through your network – and without a network, where would you be? People are the key to grabbing life.
4. Ask Questions
Opportunities don’t come out of nowhere, a lot of the time it will be a subtle opportunity. That’s why it’s vital that you ask questions of everything and force yourself to think creatively and look at life from every angle. Your curiosity could be the key to unlocking opportunity.
5. Recognize Opportunities
It’s not going to land on your lap gift-wrapped, the greatest opportunities in life are often disguised as something else entirely. Which is why asking questions is important, but it’s equally as important that you are able to recognize the opportunities that do crop up. The reason we fail to recognize them is that we expect them to be obvious and that just isn’t how life rolls.
6. Take Risks
Not just any risk, though, calculated risks. When you recognize an opportunity and understand how to take advantage of it then you need to take risks. Before you do so, review the pros and cons and seize the day or move on to the next opportunity. There are no guarantees in life; it is what you make it.
You can use these six steps in business and in your personal life. The key to unlocking your happiness and seizing everything life has to offer is fully within your power. You just have to grab everything that comes your way and learn to practice gratitude for everything you achieve.
Great points Christine especially #5 & 6. Sometimes our minds are so cluttered we don’t recognise opportunities when they arise. Also taking risks isn’t easy but the rewards are often worth it. Thanks for sharing your practical advice at #MLSTL and have a great week!
I’m trying to tighten up my morning routine to be more productive. I enjoyed the post.
Good practical tips Christine, asking questions and taking risks are vital in my opinion. #mlstl
Great post Christine – I think being mentally prepared really helps reduce fear – also knowing what is important and worth pushing through to achieve helps as well. Your points all made good sense.
MLSTL and I’ve shared this on my SM 🙂
Learning to practice gratitude for everything we achieve ( and even for the things we don’t achieve) is a key aspect of being happy and fulfilled in life. Thanks for sharing such valuable advice.
Brilliant! Every. Single. One!!!
Great post and solid points to reference. Thanks for sharing.
I’ve always believed in the power of learning through questioning.
But number six stumps me every time 🙂 I need to learn to conquer my fear. Calculated risks are, indeed, worth the chance. And if they don’t pan out, failure is not the result. There are always lessons to learn – which will propel us forward.
These are important points. I especially like the reminder that opportunities don’t always present themselves like we expect them to. We need to be open and curious. #MLSTL
These are great points. I especially appreciate the reminder that opportunities do not always come in the way we would expect. It’s important to stay curious and keep our minds and hearts open. #MLSTL
All good. You have to get yourself out to meet others. You never know what gifts they will bring you that help you toward your goal.