Happy New Year!

Over the last year I’ve seen (and felt) the fear around me grow and grow. One of the icky things about being a coach is I get extra sensitive to what other people are feeling, so I can’t get away from it. Scary things are happening. Let’s talk about fear.

I see TWO KINDS OF FEAR.

First there’s the fear of a challenge, of taking a risk and falling on your face. (BTW, I should mention I fell on my face a LOT last year. I made a lot of mistakes.) The consequences of failure may really suck, but they’re in the service of where you want to go.

The other kind of fear is the FEAR THAT STOPS YOU. It doesn’t serve you. It’s the fear I feel every time I read newspaper headlines or watch the news on television. It’s the fear that causes banks to hoard their cash just when it would be in their best interest to start lending again.

That latter kind of fear will keep you poor, small, and miserable.

I’d pay special attention to statements like “I want to do this, but I don’t have the money.” You’ve just made Money the bad guy, a convenient excuse to hide your fear behind. This is how you feed your Money Monster and insult your Money Honey. Making decisions based on fear empowers what you fear.

The biggest shift I made in 2008 was my determination to make choices based on who I want to be, not on who I’ve been. This is the choice of ALL SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE. That choice blew the doors off what I’d ever achieved before–but it really sucked those days when I wasn’t seeing results. My fear and anger almost knocked me out of the game. That’s why I cultivate a good relationship with my Money Honey.

Beware when Fear speaks. It’ll do everything it can to knock you off course. When Fear grips you, your body tenses up and your intelligence goes down. Stuff happens. Sometimes really ugly stuff happens. All you have is how you respond. That’s why I want you to click on this link to learn how to Feel Better Now. Fear is fine; just don’t let it make up your mind for you.

P.S. Mark your calendars for my FINAL Financial Alchemy PREVIEW call on Tuesday, January 13, 5pm pacific. The topic is “Freeing Yourself From Fear.”