How I Overcame Fear & Achieved My Goals

There are so many dreams God has placed in my heart that I put off for far too long for fear of failure. I didn’t want to admit that I was actually afraid of taking a chance on myself. I’m pretty confident in my abilities, so it was hard to accept the fact that I was just plain scared that I might not have what it takes. Once I actually accepted the fear factor, I got to work on defeating the only thing standing between me and my destiny. These 5 steps were game changers for me on my journey to overcoming fear.

1. Envision the life you want. (career, family, etc.)

One day while the girls were napping, I decided to watch The Secret on Netflix. I read the book years ago, but after watching that video I was reminded of how powerful our thoughts and actions are, which brings me to my first tip on overcoming fear. Envision the life you want to have. See yourself actually doing and being the things that you long to be.

That very day, I started taking time to daydream about the places my gift would take me. I envisioned myself in front of thousands of women encouraging them to live their best lives. I pictured our family in Europe and started looking at homes (before my husband was selected for the job). I envisioned several lives being changed as a result of the message God has given me to share. I pictured my ideal body, and the lifestyle it would take to maintain it.

Within one year of envisioning my goals as my reality and taking the necessary actions, two of these milestones have already been accomplished, and the third won’t be far behind.

2. Write down S.M.A.R.T goals & hang them up

This step could also be done first, I just happened to do steps one and two in reverse order. The main idea is to make sure you have Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time specific goals.

As the saying goes, “a goal without a plan is just a wish”. When you write your goals down along with an action plan, you increase your probability of success.

To take things a step further, you could also create a vision board for the year. I absolutely love making vision boards because I can create a visual for my goals, and I get to do a little crafting. Most importantly, I like to hang it up somewhere I will see it often as a constant reminder of what I’m working towards.

3. Do it afraid…put your fear in check

There have been times, even when starting this blog, that I allowed fear to keep me from taking action. I did months and months of research, took notes, e-courses, you name it. However, when the time came to start implementing everything I had learned, I hesitated. I second guessed myself far too many times, and put off bringing my vision to life.

Fear shows up in the form of self-doubt. If you’re not careful, that voice in your head trying to convince you that you don’t have what it takes to achieve the huge goals you’ve set will win.

I questioned myself for a while. What if I didn’t know enough about WordPress to run a blog? Would people actually want to read it? What if my impact wasn’t what I had envisioned? These questions were all burning at the back of my mind when I first started this journey, but the more I drowned those doubts out with positive affirmations, the less distracting they became.

I learned how to put one foot in front of the other,  (even when I was afraid) until things were done. I created my website, social media accounts, outsourced branding, and started working on content.

Of course, it took me several months to accomplish all of this since my three very active little girls keep me busy, but I utilized late nights and early mornings to get it done. Which leads me to my next point…

4. Be willing to sacrifice for your goals

We all lead busy lives, and 9 times out of 10, we aren’t doing what we love in our day job. This means you have to make time for creating the life you envision for yourself.  If you put your mind to it, you can do what you love and never “work” another day in your life.

Your passion is usually reflected in your hobbies. If you love to write, you may journal frequently. Ever considered writing a book? Maybe you enjoy photography; you’re probably the “unofficial” photographer for all your friends’ events. Start your business and take pictures on the weekends.

I’m not saying you have to quit your day job to pursue your passion, but why not make it a source of income if you put so much time and effort into it?

I know this is easier said than done. By the time you commute to and from work, take kiddos to their activities, make dinner, clean, help with homework, and whatever else your life consists of, there is little time for your own interests.

Hard doesn’t mean impossible. Take advantage of the tiny windows of opportunity that you do have. Even if you only have thirty minutes once the kids are down, do something that gets you closer to your goal.

I chipped away at the tasks on my list one opportunity at a time,  stayed up hours after the girls were asleep, and took advantage of any other free time I could to work on my to-do list.

If I could make this happen so you can you. It all comes down to how much we’re willing to sacrifice and how hard we want to work. It’s okay if you have to work at a slow pace, chip away at your goals one task at a time.

5. Be prepared for redirection

Perhaps the hardest lesson I learned during this process was the inevitable hiccups that lead to redirection. I say redirection instead of failure, because when things go wrong, a new route is usually all that’s needed. If you’re not careful, fear will take over and convince you to just give up.

Plans are an important part of this process, but life happens, and things won’t always go as planned. The true test is how we respond when our plans are turned upside down by an unexpected snag or delay.

I had worked for several months, one late night at a time, building my brand and website. The night before my blog launch party, I was finally ready to make my site live for the world to see.

Once I hit that button to take my site from staging to live,  everything went haywire! Within just a few minutes, months of tireless hours of work were gone. As I sat in front of my computer at 1 a.m., I was completely floored and defeated, especially after tech support was unable to restore what was lost.

Let me tell you, I cried real tears. Losing all of my content was a hard pill to swallow. But, I had to pick myself up, and prepare to introduce my blog to my friends that had committed to attend my launch party the next day. I prayed and let it go, and we had a great time in spite of the blog fiasco. I was able to give my tribe a glimpse of what the blog would be about through a fun, interactive experience.

The moral of the story is…things will go wrong. That’s just a part of life. The key is to keep from falling apart, or giving up when they do, because sometimes that redirection is just what you need to achieve your goals.

You’ve so got this!

Be sure to download your free worksheet and checklist to begin overcoming your fears today! 

Have any pointers on how you were able to overcome fear to achieve your goals? I’d love to hear about it in the comments!