How To Overcome Fear And Perform Powerfully
Learning how to overcome fear and perform powerfully is a skill that we
all need to acquire as fear of failure and performance anxiety affect
most of us at some point in our lives.
Whilst it is natural to
feel a level of fear and anxiety in difficult situations, and this can
be a powerful stimulant to an excellent performance, it can also be
debilitating and hold us back from doing our best or - in extreme cases -
cause us to not engage.
Everything I write about in these articles is all based on direct personal experience.
The technique I am sharing here is an NLP based technique that I have used a number of times to very great effect.
I
am not trained in NLP, neither am I in any way qualified to offer therapeutic advice. I do not see NLP as the answer to every
problem in life. In my view it is frequently over-hyped and
over-sold, and it has been described as a pseudo-scientific approach to personal development. But, as with so many of these things, it does contain some useful tips and techniques.
I take a deeply pragmatic view of all these things and if something is simple to apply, requires no training other than a simple straightforward outline of the procedure, and most importantly if it works then I am always happy to share it.
Here is real-life example of how this technique helped me to earn over $300,000 on one deal.
This
simple technique can be used to anchor any emotional state and in my view
is a useful and powerful resource to have in your personal development
toolkit. Here is an explanatory video and further information on how how it is claimed that NLP works.
How To Overcome Fear And Perform Powerfully - Preparation Exercise
This is the preparation exercise, and then I will give you the technique.
Sit
quietly and in a relaxed state.
Imagine you are in the situation where you want to perform powerfully. In your imagination see yourself fulfilling the task, for example giving a speech or presentation to a large group.
Imagine every detail of how it will be.
Imagine
yourself doing it incredibly well. Now feel how good it feels.
Imagine how powerful you feel, how in control you feel, how proud you feel.
Focus on the feelings of how good it is as you perform so well and so
powerfully.
Repeat this exercise a number of times.
How To Overcome Fear And Perform Powerfully - The NLP Technique
Sit quietly and in a relaxed state. I want you to now imagine a time, a place and a situation when you have FELT powerful – incredibly powerful.
It doesn't what it is, what the context was or when it happened. All that matters is that you had that feeling.
Play that scene through in your imagination and focus on the feelings of how powerful you felt.
The key to this is that you have to FEEL the feeling of being powerful.
When you get to the point of maximum intensity of that feeling of being powerful I want you to do two things:
- Say a word. Any word e.g. “Now” or “Power” – you choose the word.
- Do a physical action e.g. clench your fist, tap your leg – you choose the action.
These 2 things will anchor that peak emotional state.
So let’s repeat that:
- Play that scene through in your imagination and focus on the feelings of how powerful you felt.
- When you get to the point of maximum emotional intensity of that feeling of being powerful say the word “NOW” and clench your fist.
- Then relax.
- Repeat the exercise.
How to apply it:
Next time you want to feel
powerful (and with no fear or anxiety), for example when you next have
to take a perform an action where other people will be watching you,
just say “NOW” and clench your fist.
You will find that your body is overwhelmed with the feelings of being powerful and you will perform to the best of your ability.
[The anchor word and anchor physical action will
trigger the feelings.]
Note:
Do not worry about how or why this works.
You don’t need to understand it for this to work.
Don't over-think this.
Don't just dismiss this until you have tried it as outlined above.
Just do it!
Further reading
For a wider and more in depth look at the nature of fear and how to overcome it:
How To Overcome Fear - Leveraging The Power Of Your Energy
Next Article:
Dance Into The Light And Stop Chasing Your Tail
Return from "How To Overcome Fear And Perform Powerfully" :
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