5 ‘Remembers’ To Squish Your Bizarro Imagination
It was 24 hours away and I had knots in my stomach. I didn’t want to go. I kept trying to find every excuse not to do it. I was going to speak to my biggest crowd yet and I was totally in my head.
First, I felt some cold chills and thought I started to come down with the flu. Then, I began to play scenarios in my brain.
“Hello, Anne? *hack, cough* This is Robert, I’m so sorry but I’m contagious right now and I don’t want to get your audience sick. Is there any way for you to just, you know, skip my part? You won’t miss it much, will you?”
or
“Gee, Anne. Listen, I really wanna get there but I’m having this emergency car issue right now and…”
or
“Soooo, Anne. Listen. Right now, I just don’t feel like I know all of the information to be able to help your group. And it’s kinda cold outside today. So, can we push to…hmmmm, maybe next year-ish?”
Getting past a growth obstacle can be a physically taxing experience. Yes, you can physically make yourself sick by worrying or overplaying the moments in your mind. The worst part is they haven’t happened yet.
Our creative minds can invent so many wild scenes if we allow it. The good thing is this indicates our creative minds haven’t died. The imagination we had as children still remains and we can use its power for good. But, the bad news is we have relegated it to a place of creative fear. The flip side of a healthy imagination is a creator of worst case scenarios. We imagine tragic failure and so we consciously and subconsciously begin to create justifications and ways to avoid it altogether. We want to skip the pain.
We are obeying the natural response.
That’s not a bad thing, except…the pain isn’t real and may not even happen. Often, we have no prior experience by which to justify this pain. And even if we have prior experience, there’s no guarantee it will happen again.
The first time I got onto a bicycle, I fell. As cool as it would have been, (and oh did I want to look cool), I just didn’t have the experience or the skill to balance, pedal and look straight ahead at the same time. So, I fell.
Our bizarro imagination says, “well, if you fell the first time, then this next time is going to be worse. You might totally break your entire arm in five places.”
Yep, that bizarro imagination gets drastic.
And yet, we get back on the bicycle and give it another shot.
As babies, we fall and yet we give walking another shot.
We’re learning to speak and we say ‘pasketti’ instead of ‘spaghetti’…and yet we give it another shot.
The courage is within us. We just need to access it.
“Don’t let the fear of what could happen make nothing happen.” — Doe Zantamata
When you encounter a challenge which causes us to slip deep into a pit of fear:
- Remember the times you gave it another shot. Remember how you felt and acknowledge how you made it through. It may not have seemed like a big deal at the time, but, it gave you the story you can step into now.
- Remember that each new experience causes you to become a better you. Good or bad, each experience causes you to make new decisions. The bad ones give you the opportunity to decide how you want to act or respond in the future. The good ones give you a glimpse into your future possibility and your power. Either way, you decide how great you want to be.
- Remember why! Why do you want to want to do this?
- Remember what! What will your life be like when you get past it?
- Remember when you thought it wasn’t possible and celebrate where you are now.
Take a moment to write down the past experiences, both the successes and the failures. Then use them as a guide for how you will handle this new opportunity for growth.
Oh yeah, the speaking event. I knocked it out of the park! I chose to show up at my best and THAT is what came true!
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About The Author
My name is Robert Kennedy III. I’m a professional speaker and author. I speak and write mainly about leadership and communication. Connect with me on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook or on my website, RobertKennedy3.com
