Facing your fears for 2017 and beyond

I was reminded of “Fiddy’s” book with Robert Greene called the “50th Law” and started re-reading it this week. While considering his options and the bleak aspects of hustling all his life, Jackson had a discussion with an older hustler named Truth. Truth told him not to complain about his difficult circumstances but look to it as a blessing. “The greatest danger we face, is not the police or some nasty rival. It’s the mind going soft and your eye getting dull.” As Robert Greene explains: When things get tough and you grow tired of the grind, your mind tends to drift into fantasies; you wish things were a certain way, and slowly, subtly you turn inward to your thoughts and desires.

If things are going well, you become complacent, imagining that what you have now will continue forever. You stop paying attention. Before you know it, you end up overwhelmed by the changes going on and the younger people rising up around you, challenging your position.

The moment you believe in some cherished idea that you will hold on to no matter what your eyes and ears reveal to you, you are no longer operating in reality. As my Granny use to say, “Don’t take candle to see in the night what you could see in the day!” To survive in 2017 and beyond you need to be open to possibility.

Look at situations as if for the first time. Robert suggests that you return to that mind you possessed as a child. Just imagine you don’t know anything. Let go of any preconceptions and cherished beliefs. Listen more attentively. See everything as a source of education.

We can no longer gloss over issues.

We need to get to the root cause of our problems. Malcolm X, in an effort to find the source of the problem for blacks in America, determined that there was too much dependency on everything but little self-reliance.

If we could end dependency then we would have the power to reverse circumstances. Yet we spend an inordinate amount of time looking at surface issues, getting all emotional and reacting with no long term, sustained solution in sight.

My friend and fellow coach, Marlene Chism wrote a very thoughtful piece which she posted on social media. I found it so relevant and inspiring that I wrote it out in long hand at the front of my journal for easy reference, least I forget.

She said, in the next three to five years, the most sought-after skill will be the ability to make a choice and focus energy long enough to execute.

We Trinbagonians are a collective creative bunch. We have tons of ideas but if we are to succeed as a people, we will need to adjust our mindsets, our attitudes and focus long enough on solving what we see as problems.

Marlene says we need to quit being slaves to our creative urges, emotions and doubts and focus our energy long enough to achieve our objectives.

We also need to stop waiting for “the right time.” The right time is now.

The right date is today.

• Make a choice.

• Choose something.

Sure, you have options but too many options leads to overwhelm and indecision.

Procrastination is the reason you’re not earning what you could earn.

It’s the reason you continue to go unrecognised for your efforts. It’s the reason you are just getting by… why you don’t feel good about yourself and why you lack confidence.

Without making choices and moving forward you will lack momentum and remain stuck, telling stories of how it used to be. Living in a fantasy and not facing reality.

We can no longer be afraid to make decisions and forge forward. We have all heard the oft worn quote by Franklin D Roosevelt, that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.

We never hear the other part. He goes on to say that (fear is) nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.

Greene says that fear creates its own self-fulfilling dynamics as people give into it, they lose energy and momentum. Their lack of confidence translates into inaction that lowers confidence levels even further, and on and on… So, what are you going to do? Are you going to allow your mind to go soft, or are you going to decide on a way forward, pursuing long enough to see your efforts turn into results? The choice is yours.

For a free copy of the report “How to Stop Procrastinating and Take Control of your Life” send an email to possibility2profit@gmail.com