Conquering Fear: Seven Steps to Success

Fear of failure and sometimes a subconscious fear of success is the tie that binds those seeking career and business success. The inability to conquer fear or overcome fear is a primary element that separates people who achieve from those who fail to achieve. At UpwardAction, we use a seven step process that will help you overcome fear and achieve accelerated business and career success.

1. Get clear about your vision. The first step to overcoming fear is to be crystal clear about your vision. It is important to take time to visualize your optimal result in vivid detail. Why? Because, you must know where you are going before you can develop a plan to get there!

2. Create SMART* Goals. Now that you know what you want (your vision) think about what specific actions need to happen to get you there. You can now use these necessary actions to create goals. Make sure your goals are specific enough for you to know when they have been achieved. You should also set realistic period of time by which you will achieve the goal. Once you have solid (aka S.M.A.R.T.) goals in place, write down the steps necessary to reach each milestone. Completing these steps provides a map for making your vision a reality and you are now ready for action. Set aside time every day to work on an action that leads to achieving a goal or milestone. You will find that having this sort of "map" to your vision make achievement very real and helps to eliminate the fear of failure.

3. Become committed to achieving your vision and goals. Make the decision to be 100% committed to achieving your goals. This type of firm "all in" commitment will help you eliminate the doubt that fear breeds. The step requires that you make the affirmative decision of focus and commitment.

4. Stay positive. Do not give in to the negative energy that surrounds complaining about the possibility that you cannot make your vision a reality. Remember the commitment you made to yourself in step 3.

5. Surround yourself with inspiration. Inspiration can come in the form of positive and inspiring people, motivational CDs, books or seminars, mediation and/or increased focus on your spirituality. This is only a starter list. Take some time to figure what you need to feel inspired and motivated - then incorporate the elements that you discover in this process into your life.

6. Develop an attitude of gratitude. Embrace the fact that life is a journey and the realization of your vision is a process that will have periods of rapid upward action and times when it appears that you are not moving at all - or worse - moving downward. Remember, there is a lesson to be learned in all situations and these lessons are a necessary part of your life journey. Make the decision to be grateful for all of the learning that occurs on your journey and to incorporate the learning in your life.

7. Have Faith. Once you have incorporated the actions in steps one though six into your life, make a decision to have faith in yourself and your vision. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1.