New good thoughts
Where do new positive thoughts come from? I think it's a combination. A good moment, a beautiful sight, something good to eat, something beautiful to hear, touching music, a song that resonates in the mind, an inspiring book, a motivational blog, an inspiring podcast, a funny reel, a stimulating book, a tea bag saying, a brilliant quote, a great voice with an unexpectedly gratifying message, a beautiful conversation, a quiet moment between valuable contributions, a valuable brainstorming session, a forward-looking workshop, a successful meeting, and much more. In short, a happy coincidence or an intentional inspiration.
Today I was listening to John C. Maxwell. In his Maxwell Leadership Podcast he talked about fear: "Feel the fear in you and do it anyway."
He listed a whole bunch of life situations around fear and how we can best deal with it.
Let me quickly share with you what resonated with me.
The mantra
John advises us to commit to a mantra. The mantra is "Do it now!" He advises that you say to yourself, "Do it now!" 50 times before you go to bed, 50 times when you get up, 50 times at lunch, and so on for a few days. The thought "Do it now!" should become ingrained. So much so that when we ask ourselves, "When do I start?" we immediately think, "Do it now!
I listened to the podcast on my way to work and started the mantra on the stairs. Every step I took, "Do it now!" This mantra at least got me off to a good start for the day. "Do it now!" Don't put it off.
Another funny quote is from Martin Wüller: "What you can put off today, you'll put off tomorrow." What I really like about this is that Martin uses this phrase to promote "Do it now!
How do you deal with fear?
John says there are basically two ways to deal with fear: 1. don't act out of fear and 2. feel fear and act anyway.
Not acting out of fear
When we fuel our fears by talking about them, by using vocabulary that reinforces them, by surrounding ourselves with negative messages and narratives, we multiply our fears. They will inevitably slow us down. We begin to think, "I can't. I won't." Our fears will paralyze us.
Feel Fear and Act Anyway
"Do It Now" is a plea to face your fear. More than that, John says that every new success in a major challenge is closely tied to fear. If we feel that fear and act on it without losing sight of our goal, we won't be paralyzed.
Courage does you good
"Do it now" means that we encourage each other - ourselves and others.
Let's courageously face our fears and create something new. New things that will change us and our world.
I believe in you and your abilities. I firmly believe that you will find the right words to encourage you. I believe that you can be guided to good thoughts by serendipity and conscious inspiration. I firmly believe that our actions will transform our fears. And last but not least, I firmly believe that it pays to act!
So there is only one thing left to do:
"Do it now!"
