FEAR - By Corey Poirier

FEAR

By Corey Poirier

With Halloween fast approaching, I thought it an appropriate time to talk about the subject of fear. I was watching the movie Pain and Gain last night and they noted the letters to fear stand for False Evidence Appearing Real. Yet, when people attempt to conquer their fears, more often than not, they The good news is that I have discovered, as a result of over 2500 interviews with high achievers ranging from Jack Canfield (Chicken Soup Co-Creator, Success Principles Author) to T. Harv Eker (Best Selling Author of The Millionaire Mind) to Former World Champion Trish Stratus, one of the surest paths to discovering one’s full potential is through conquering said fears, and as a result, expanding one’s In fact, when organizations hire me to speak at their meetings and conferences, I regularly share that the surest way to reach your true potential is to tackle your fear so that they can begin the process of To give you an example of the impact this has made in my life personally, in 2002, I tackled my greatest fear, public speaking, when I took to the stage to try my hand at stand-up comedy. The experience was far from comfortable. I’m sure the entire set I was covered in sweat, and my heart was racing from the first second until perhaps two hours later.

Yet, after trying, and surviving, my first stand-up performance, I found myself exhilarated. I had in some small way, expanded my comfort zone ever so slightly while also facing a great fear. I hadn’t won the I took the stage again the following week, and the week after that, and, slowly but surely, my fear continued to reduced, even if slightly each time, and my comfort zone expanded slightly until eventually, my comfort zone was perhaps twice the size as it was the first time I took to the stage. The result of this expanded comfort zone was the ability to tackle each additional fear with greater confidence until I was jumping out of a plane despite a fear of heights and surfing in Tofino, BC despite a fear of water, and perhaps most significant, I was crushing my goals in all areas of my personal, and professional, life at a pace I never thought possible.

I can’t promise you that tackling your fears will be easy, few of the great things in life are. It also may require you to take baby steps, but worse than taking baby steps or doing something that may be at first slightly uncomfortable, is regret. After the thousands of interviews mentioned, I can tell you that few things are worse than regret. Perhaps that’s why time and time again, when I have interviewed high achievers who have tackled fear after fear, they reiterate over and over that the only regrets they have are in relation to the risks they didn’t take when they had the chance. That’s why my hope is that you don’t have to live with such regret, and so my challenge to you is that you start taking baby steps in your effort to face your fears.

Whether it be telling someone that you love them, making a sales call to a client you have been fearful of talking to, or making a presentation you have been avoided, I can tell you in each case (because I have personally faced each of those three fears in my own life) that you can face these fears by taking those baby steps, and you will get better as time goes on and it will get much easier…but like me, you won’t Why? Because it’s a step that could lead to you discovering your passion, finding a new career, becoming the biggest and best you possible, meeting the love of your life, launching the business of your dreams…or maybe, just maybe, jumping onto the stage and launching into your very first stand-up set! Whatever baby step you decide to take, here’s to your greater success.



Corey Poirier is an award winning speaker and bestselling author. You can hear his radio show (which has featured everyone from Chalene Johnson of Turbo Jam fame to Dr. David Suzuki to the Iconic Comedian Richard Pryor’s daughter Rain Pryor) at www.conversationswithpassion.com and you can learn more about bringing Corey in to speak at your event at www.coreypoirier.com