The Joy of Fear - October 2004

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August 2004 Issue
15-Aug-04

September 2004
09-Sep-04

Fearless Quotes

"Life is a roller coaster.
You can either scream every time you hit a bump or
you can throw your hands up in the air and enjoy it."
Author Unknown

"When you get into a tight place, and everything goes against you, till it seems as though you could not hold on a moment longer, never give up then - for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn."
Harriet Beecher Stowe

"There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle."
Albert Einstein

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves:'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?' Actually, who are you not to be?"
Nelson Mandela

Welcome to the October issue of The Joy of Fear!

This past month has been full of all sorts of fun and frightening experiences for me. The biggest of these involved a choice between following a dream, or allowing fears about my finances to get the better of me. Fortunately, I chose the former! I followed my dream all the way to Park City, UT, and trained as a North Star Life Coach with Martha Beck. For some reason I've yet to figure out, Martha and her North Star team decided I'd make a good North Star Coach, and chose me to be part of a group of ten personally-selected future North Star Life Coaches. Now, training with Martha was a goal I had planned for sometime in the future, once I became a successful coach with lots of clients and lots of money. Well, it didn't quite happen that way!

The opportunity came on the heels of being laid off from my job of over ten years, with a very fixed (and somewhat limited) amount of disposable income. To say that taking a financial leap into the unknown that big was scary would be an understatement! I almost didn't do it. Then, that voice inside my head said "How often do you get an opportunity like this?" It was right. I might not ever have this chance again. So, I decided to stop worrying about my financial situation, and just do it. It turned out to be one of the best and most incredible experiences of my life, plus I got the chance to stay in a AAA 5-Diamond luxury resort, and go hot air ballooning for the first time! It was awesome, incredibly scary, and I'd do it all again in a heartbeat!

So, if you're given an opportunity to follow a dream, do it, even if it scares the bejeebers out of you! The results can be pretty spectacular!

Feature Articles

How Do You Build Self-Confidence?
Every single child under the age of five that I have ever observed has had a strong self-confidence in at least one area of their life. Most kids had confidence in all areas of their lives. It seems to me that they systematically lose that confiden

Do You Panic When Your Goal Is Within Reach?
Many of us experience a letdown, panic, depression, or even outright fear when our goal is within reach. Why is this and what can we do about it?

Recommended Read of the Month
Stand Up for Your Life: A Practical Step-by-Step Plan to Build Inner Confidence and Personal Power - Cheryl Richardson
This is the book that started it all for me. I had read this and as a result, joined a Life Makeover Group. We worked through this book for the better part of a year, and the results were incredible. It was while working through this book with the group that I had my first glimpse of Life Coaching.

This quote from the book says it all: "In this book I'll take you on a journey that will provide you with new "self- honoring" strategies to transform your fear and self-doubt into power. You'll learn to trust yourself. You'll build new courage muscles that will increase your self-esteem. And you'll develop the confidence to step out into unknown territory so you can realize your greatest potential."

Return to Carol Martzinek - Life Coach