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t’s all around us. Each day we have an opportunity to face off with our fears. We must win this battle lest we fail to deploy our purpose and potential. If we allow ourselves to be plagued by this, we will have one of the following things coming our way:

1. Stagnation:

Fear can be so debilitating and paralyzing. When this happens, one’s progress is hindered. You are stopped dead on your tracks. You want to start playing a waiting game, while all the while you remain stagnant. For progress to be made, that fear has to be overcome. For you to deploy your purpose, it is critical to overcome stagnation brought about by fear.

2. Undeveloped or Untapped potential:

Fear stops you from doing the new. The new is normally what exploits your untapped potential and purpose. If you choose to remain the same, then your potential remains untapped. Frankly, if all your potential has already been tapped and fulfilled, we should be coming to celebrate your next level of life: well-timed death.  Seth Godin puts it this way:

Sometimes, we mistakenly believe that we’re building something that takes time, but what we’re actually doing is hiding. We stall and digress and cause distractions, not because the work needs us to, but because we’re afraid to ship.

3. Wasted time:

Did you ever notice how useless fear was at times? You are afraid that something will go wrong and so you do not take a step. But life forces you to take that very step that you were afraid of and when you finally do, you realize that there was nothing to the fear that you had. All of a sudden, you wish you had taken that step earlier and had saved yourself some time!

4. Wasted opportunities:

This goes without saying. If you succumb to fear, it means that you will not take on some opportunities that come your way head on. That is what IBM did when they were presented by a brilliant idea years ago by a gentlemen called Bill Gates. They have never recovered from that wasted opportunity. Recently, Nokia, a market leader in mobile handsets was presented with a brilliant opportunity to continue their market leadership by embracing smartphones. They didn’t. The rest is history.

5. Weakened Immune system:

Fear has negative effects both to your physical and mental health. The very entry of fear makes your brain to shut down some functions of your body in order to protect you. At times, forgetful people are that way because of fear. This can be a bad rap for your purpose pursuit

Facing The Fears Head On!

There is a joy and a beauty that comes when you face your fears head off and actually overcome them. You should see a boy who was scared of a bully only to realize that they had power over him. When you thought you could never speak in public and you then realized that you actually have a message that resonates with your audience, you will never be the same again.

In his book, “Awaken the Giant…” Tony Robbins shares a very powerful analogy about beliefs. He says that a belief is like a table on legs. The legs of that table are the references that you make. For example, you might believe that you are sexy and charming. If you had enough references to that fact, for example the way you dress and the compliments you received then it supports the belief that you are what you think you are. Therefore you go around behaving as if you are what you think you are! The sad truth is that the opposite is also very true.

Building Evidence Against Our Fear

Now, the same analogy can be used when we are facing our fears. The more we overcome them, the more we build credence to the fact that we are more courageous than we are fearful. Do you see what this means? It simply means that the way to become courageous is to go full blast in facing our fears head one, and as we face the fears and overcome them, we build massive reference points in our psyche that we are courageous. Our resilience index is even improved

There are several things that you can do in order to overcome your fears. For us to keep pursuing our purpose to fruition, it is imperative that we have this fear buster toolbox to help us on the way. Make no mistake about it, fear is all around us. Isn’t it any wonder that there are 365 verses of scripture in the Bible making reference to “Fear not”, or “Do not be afraid”? Each for a day of the year!

1. Spiritual Cushion

Fear is intangible. Extreme fear can be tangible. Therefore, the very first weapon in your fear buster tool box has to be a great spiritual cushion. Let me explain. Your Spiritual life is comprised of the following things:

• Your relationship with the Divine or lack of it
• Your beliefs about yourself
• Your beliefs about your chances
• Your beliefs about control of life
• Your value system
• Your purpose and calling
• Your passion, both love and anger.

In short, we are talking about your “Relationship”, “Intuition”, and “Conscience”. It is imperative to get the right aspects of these three. For example, even though a woman might be drop dead gorgeous, if she believes otherwise, she will be affected and shrink from seeking relationships. She will probably be afraid of rejection. This great soul put it best this way:

“If you can control a man’s thinking you do not have to worry about his action. When you determine what a man shall think you do not have to concern yourself about what he will do. If you make a man feel that he is inferior, you do not have to compel him to accept an inferior status, for he will seek it himself. If you make a man think that he is justly an outcast, you do not have to order him to the back door. He will go without being told; and if there is no back door, his very nature will demand one.” 
― Carter G. Woodson, The Mis-Education of the Negro

Therefore, if your internal spiritual compass is messed up, chances are that you will be prone to fear and will not experience your full purpose as God intended. However, if your Spiritual life is intact, healthy and growing daily, chances are that fear will not have a chance to overcome you. The Bible says it best, “The righteous are as bold as a lion!” And what is the definition of the righteous? It is simply this: He whose internal compass as installed by the creator is congruent to their external action.

To create a Spiritual cushion, the following will be appropriate to do.

1. Clarify your belief system. Who are you? Where do you come from? Why are you here? What can you do? Where are you going? Get answers to these questions
2. Clarify your values in life. What do you stand for? What are you known for?
3. Discover your purpose in life. What were you born to do?
4. Live your life intentionally, with direction and with urgency. How often do you plan for your day, week, month, year?

A great spiritual cushion will help you put in perspective the triggers of fear in your life such as setbacks, heartaches, uncertainties and so on. Start building one today if you do not have a spiritual cushion. It will greatly shield you from fear so you can pursue your purpose. We shall continue these thoughts in the next article.