Tag Archives: fear

You Can’t Beat Fear Pretending It’s Not There


by Greg Hague


Fearful boy hiding under the bedYou refused to attack. It was fear, the dream killer; it held you back.

Calls you failed to make. Opportunities you didn’t take. Times you should have raised your hand. People you were afraid to walk up and meet.

What is fear?

Let’s dissect this ugly ole’ thing. You can’t conquer what you don’t understand.

Fear is mental theater with you on the stage.

It’s visualization – a fast moving, flash-forward sequence that unfolds in your head.

You’re the star…the central character in a play with an unfortunate end.

It’s self-imposed failure; an imagined travesty deep in your mind.

How do you beat fear?

Do what actors do:

First – Don’t try to pretend fear isn’t there. It is.

Second – Realize most fears are “no downside” fears. Embarrassment. Rejection. Disappointment. Hurt feelings. You have nothing to lose but a mental bruise. The real harm comes from not taking the risk.

Third – Learn, practice, drill, rehearse. Nothing subdues fear more than being prepared.

Finally…visualize, visualize, visualize.

Imagine a perfect performance. You make the sale, wow the audience, ace the test or win the race. Picture yourself emerging to the applause of a roaring crowd.

The Takeaway?

The goal isn’t to ignore fear, it’s to excel in the face of fear.

Over-prepare. Take control of your mind. Visualize perfection time and again. See yourself a star, a winner, a success at the end.

And remember…the real downside is letting fear keep you from taking the risk. That’s what you’ll look back and regret.


 

The Power of Fear . . . Kill the Bear


by Greg Hague

“Cowards die many times before their deaths;

The valiant never taste of death but once.”

                                                                        -William Shakespeare from Julius Caesar

bear

Fear is imagination . . . it’s really not real.

In one of my favorite movies, The Edge, billionaire Charles Morse (Anthony Hopkins) and fashion photographer Bob Green (Alec Baldwin) endure a harrowing quest for survival in a brutally harsh, particularly treacherous area of Alaskan wilderness.

While staying at a remote backcountry lodge accessible only by seaplane, they decide to fly upriver in search of a photogenic Indian grizzly hunter. Suddenly, a flock of birds slams head-on into their single engine bush plane, blasting through the windshield, blinding the pilot, and clogging the prop with bird remains.

The badly damaged aircraft careens violently out of control. Shearing off a pontoon, and just missing a mountaintop peak, the doomed plane finally plunges violently into an isolated backwoods lake.

The force of the impact rips the wings off the fuselage. The fragmented hull quickly fills with icy cold water as it swirls into the depths. READ MORE 

One in Each Eye

If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.

—Wayne Dyer


Today’s story is from Brian Hague about his dad, Greg Hague.

Winter of ’92. I was 14. Denver bound. A father-son ski trip. Dad had a conference for his company there, too. I would finally get to see him “perform” for a big audience.

dad

Dad and me before our spaghetti dinner, 1992

The first day was incredibly fun! Bombing the slopes, racing to the bottom on every run. A battle against each other. Against ourselves. Against the mountain. We capped the day with an incredible spaghetti dinner.

The next morning — the conference was HUGE! Five hundred people looked like five thousand! I was terrified. What if he choked? Froze up?

I sat in the back corner, holding my breath as Dad took the stage. What happened next remains one of my most vivid memories, and a valuable lesson on life. No outlines. No cue cards. No charts or graphs. He spoke to that crowd like he was speaking to us at the dinner table. Totally relaxed. Poised and assertive. Funny and engaging. READ MORE 

My Uncle Greg Told Me A Family Secret

I didn’t have a dad growing up. Mom raised me, for the most part.



Today’s story is from Jason Fields.

I did have an uncle. His name was Greg. Uncle Greg taught me something special about me. It was 1981, another bleak, freezing Cincinnati winter.

A family secret

The ‘Panther’

My name is Jason. I was 5 at the time. The memory is vivid, even today. Standing in the Cincinnati Kmart.

Longingly gazing at the most beautiful thing I had ever seen…a jet-black Huffy “Panther” BMX bicycle.

Chrome spokes, riding pegs, trick handlebars, and “panther claw” grips! My heart pounded at the thought of riding this powerful steed.    READ MORE