How to Overcome Fear

How can you overcome your fear? I was filled with fear about five years ago at the thought of leaving my corporate job as director of sales and marketing for a luxury hotel in Los Angeles, in an industry that I've been in for over 16 years, in a role that I've been in for 14 years. I had been a director of sales and marketing. I'd had that title for 14 years, so the thought of leaving that, leaving the industry, leaving my network, leaving the salary, leaving the annual bonus, leaving the security, leaving the status that I somehow felt I had with this title, which now sounds ridiculous, but at the time, was filled with fear. How could I possibly leave this corporate job, this rhythm, this lifestyle, everything that I'd known since I graduated university?

I was filled with fear at the thought of becoming an entrepreneur, of starting my own company. Maybe you're filled with fear right now. Humans have had fear forever. And I talk about this in the talks that I give to companies. Fear has served us very well, just like the emotion of stress. But the evolutionary use of fear, where humans every day, we're trying to stay alive is not the same thing that many people in the developed countries are going through right now, yet we are still filled with fear in a lot of ways.

And I love the story that Elizabeth Gilbert shared in her book, this idea of, "Fear is always with us, but I am not going to let it drive my car. Fear is going to be with me every single day. It's going to be in my life, but it's in the back seat. I am not letting it be in the driver's seat." How can you, if you're feeling a lot of fear right now about something, about an event, about something that you need to overcome, how can you overcome that fear right now? Well, one thing that I did is, I put the word brave in my environment. I put the word brave on my bathroom mirror. I put the word brave in my car. I put the word brave next to my computer. And I looked at that word every single day.

And I want you to name it. I want you to say, "Yes, I have fear." I want you to recognize, "What triggers that fear? What happens so that I come to a place where I then I'm filled with fear? What's going on in my life." I want you to release it. I want you to be able to say, "I have that fear, but I'm letting it go. I'm not going to let it fill my day. I'm not going to let it control me." And I want you to center yourself and remember who you are. You are not the emotion of fear, you are an incredible human being, doing awesome work, living an incredible life. Center and connect with who you are. You are not what you do. You are a person, you are a human being, not a human doing.

I hope this video helps you. If you want to hear from me every week, subscribe to my YouTube channel. There's a new Tia Graham video every single Friday at 10:00 AM, Pacific. And I talk a lot about emotional well-being in my upcoming book, Be a Happy Leader. Make sure that you go and pre-order one of my books, it's going to be coming out in January 2022. Have an amazing day. And remember, fear is not in the driver's seat.