How deep is the impact?

Have you ever watched the movie ‘Deep Impact’, about the day an asteroid nearly wiped out the planet? It is not a bad movie, and although I enjoyed the similar story ‘Armageddon’, there was one part of Deep Impact that really got me thinking.

At the end of the movie, the main actor)a journalist who had been covering the impending disaster), pretty much gave up. She, along with her dad, she accepted death and perished by standing in front of a tidal wave. What was interesting about the scene was that she could have saved herself, and her father, if she had thought it through. Also, the overall impact of the asteroid impact was not as bad as it was expected to be.

She had let fear shape her decision making.

And, it is easy to let this happen in your daily life. It is time to start resisting the fear that can at times cloud your judgement. Here’s how.

See, FEAR stands for false expectations appearing real. When you fear something, all you are doing is imagining that the outcome will be bad. Why would you do that? Because you don’t want to fail, you don’t want to look stupid or you don’t want people to think less of you … right.

Now, don’t worry, I suffer from the same challenges, but here is the trick that I use to overcome any nervousness about an upcoming event. Now, this is not new, it is based on time line therapy, but it works beautifully (if done properly):

1. Visualise yourself – and this is the important bit – 15 minutes after you have finished the event, or the presentation, or whatever you are nervous about
2. Visualise yourself having succeeded
3. Visualise yourself feeling great, and powerful

Now, when ever you think fear is going to take over, visualise how good it will feel when you have overcome the challenge and faced it head on.

See, the key message here is that it is impossible to be fearful of something that has already happened. You are playing a little trick on your mind, and pretending you have completed it well already. And guess what, by visualising success, you are more likely to achieve success.

To not letting fear have a deep impact in your decision making …