Creat Performance Action Plans For Goal Setting Success

Section 5.1: Facing Fear of Failure

Start today to create a performance action plan that supports you in your quest to accomplish your most important goals and enables you to realize your desired life experiences.

In this section we continue our discuss on fear and how you can be successful in facing and overcoming fear in the pursuit of your goals.

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Dealing directly with the source of your fears, means you must accept that you are primarily responsible. Ultimately, fear is either accepted or rejected by the individual.

This concept can be difficult to accept because we condition ourselves, sometimes over many years or even decades, to believe that somehow our fears are result of something that has been done to us. This is understandable because bad things happen to good people and there are certainly long term effects when we are victimized.

However, it remains a choice by the individual as to whether or not you will accept fear into your life. By victimized by a person or situation (assault, robbery, earthquake, economic fallout, etc.) does not mean you have to remain a victim.

Facing your fear is a start, but in the end you must conquer fear.

"To succeed at goal planning it takes a person who possesses a strong will to win, and the patience to carry out the plan."

It is the tiny voice inside each and every one of us, that if left unchecked, will work to destroy our confidence and over time will diminish the quality of our lives.

The tiny little voice, our self-talk, is the source of all of our fears. We spoke about the power of self talk earlier in this series so we won't dwell upon it again here. However, we will provide some insight on how to manage your fears more effectively.

Performance Action Plan to Conquer Fear

In order to take back control and minimize the negative impact that your fears have on the quality of your life, ask yourself three very important questions:

Am I perceiving this particular situation as it truly is, or am I perceiving it worse than it really is? People who are prone to be fearful, tend to immediately assume the negative effects of failure when confronted with a challenge. Not surprisingly, because they expect failure from the very beginning, they tend to get exactly what they are expecting, which only reinforces their negative belief system.
Train yourself to believe that the best is yet to come, rather than indulging in the belief that the worst is here to stay. Through repetition you can train your mind to be more positive. This is critical as you prepare an inspiring performance action plan. It may be difficult at first to change your negative belief patterns, but with a greater awareness of what has been holding you back from achieving the goals in your performance action plan, you can become more optimistic, constructive, and effective. You can, in effect, become a happier and more successful person.
Leave It, Perceive It and Believe It. Condition yourself to work through these three steps each time you are fearful of a new situation.

First, realize that your fear in holding you back from new and wonderful experiences, and decide immediately to leave your old fearful thoughts behind. How? Recognize the fear, then decide it will no longer impact your life. When you feel fear gripping you, resist and replace negative thoughts with positive thoughts.
Secondly, visualize success. See yourself stepping out boldly and winning! Perceive yourself standing in the winner's circle, victorious. Over time you'll create a new, more positive, thinking habit to the point that you'll begin to expect successful outcomes.
Lastly, choose to believe in others; choose to believe in humanity and most importantly, choose to believe in yourself. If you don't believe in yourself, why should anyone else? Work at surrounding yourself in a positive and highly production environment. You become who you associate with.

"The ability to convert ideas to things is the secret to outward success."

- Henry Ward Beecher

Success Lesson #11: Camouflaging Our Fears

During the World War I, the French gave us a new word, which immediately jumped into popularity - camouflage.

When they wished to conceal cannons, torpedoes, tanks, machine guns, or any of the deadly instruments of war from the observation of the enemy's aviators, they covered them with foliage to avoid detection.

"Fear and worry are like echoes; they do not exist until we call for them; and the louder we call the louder is their response. We can never drown them, yet if left alone, they will drown us."

- Horace Flether

Some people learn to camouflage their worries and fears. The problem with this strategy is that your fears do not weaken or go away when you simply hide them from the outside world. Rather, these fears will grow stronger until you force yourself to deal with them head on.

Most of us think of the wonderful things we would do as part of our performance action plan if we could only get rid of the worries, the annoyances, the disturbances, and the larger things that defeat our worthy ambitions.

Yet, the real test we must take is whether we can fulfill our purposes to the letter; carry out our life plan superbly in spite of all the things that are apparently trying to detour us.

"The energy used by so many to avoid, put off and delay, can provide great rewards if only you'll route that same energy toward achieving your goals."

Are you going to create a performance action plan for a better life, or are you going to give up, mope and whine, and go about your life wearing a long sad face; giving others the message that your life has been a supreme disappointment?

If you want to make the most of your life, you must learn quickly to accept the inevitable, however disagreeable, painful or distressing - and to do so not with a frown but with a grateful smiling face. In other words, you must acquire the grace and strength and security of a poised, thoughtful and determined mind.

This type of mindset is very important as you create an effective performance action plan that will serve you well for years to come.

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