What many people fail to realize is that personal development can eliminate your deepest fear. The more you gain self-confidence, the less your fears will hound you. Ask yourself, what’s keeping you from reaching your full potential?
Reach Your Full Potential by Facing Your Deepest Fears
Questions to Ponder
Learning new skills and developing already existing ones should be a normal part of life. However, fear can hold you back from achieving your goals and realizing your full potential. To overcome the hurdles, you have to ask yourself key questions.
What is holding you back from realizing your full potential as a person? Is it your mindset? Is it fear of failure? Are your thoughts spiraling around with past defeats or disappointments? Do you get insecure with other people’s achievements? Are you always comparing yourself to others with the conclusion that you aren’t going fast enough, leading effectively enough, or growing at the pace you desire? Do you doubt your ability to grow your business? Are your thoughts pulling you down or holding you up?
Think about these things before starting your business or anything else you want to start an enlightened life.
Consider This Idea: Thoughts Are Things!
I remember the first time I read that phrase. It was a surprising new concept. I had always believed my thoughts were mine!
Here’s what happened. I was introduced to the legendary personal development author, Napoleon Hill, in my early 30’s. I read his landmark book Think and Grow Rich.
I read one of his most famous quotes and was awestruck! “Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve. Thoughts are things!”
Hummmm! Really? This got my attention, so I decided to post the phrase in my office. Now, I must admit, I tweaked this quote a bit for myself and the other women entrepreneurs out there. My version read:
Whatever the mind of woman can conceive and believe, she can achieve. Thoughts are things! And Leslie … I’m talking to you!
Seeing this quote every day helped me remember what I can do by setting my mind to it. All I had to do was turn my thoughts into action. Obviously, there will be challenges along the way.
I have encountered disappointments as well, but I did not let the fear of failure and rejection stop me from continuously working on an enlightened life.
You can also use certain inspiring quotes you previously encountered and tweak them for your own self-improvement. It can be a sentence from a book you’ve read, a line from a song you love, or even a short poem.
Like me, you can put a note in your workspace to motivate you in achieving your goals and continue with your self-development.
Remember, your thoughts are things. When you conceive an idea, you’ll be able to achieve that by continuously working on yourself.
An Enlightened Life Promised by Continuous Personal Development
Through the daily practice of personal development, I learned to become aware of my thoughts and beliefs and how they were impacting and creating my life. I learned that what I think about, I bring about, and what I think about all the time creates my reality.
It all begins with deciding which thoughts I choose to believe. Cultivating negative thoughts will only bring disappointment, but positive thoughts push us to become better versions of ourselves.
In one of my favorite books, A Return to Love, Marianne Williamson shares her belief that:
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?
As you build your business, do you find yourself shrinking or playing small? When it comes to your business, do you have limiting but inspiring beliefs around your self-esteem, your self-worth, what you deserve?
Dig deep into your fears. Find out which ones are stopping you from developing yourself and reaching your full potential for your business and career.
Work on Yourself Every Day
Those types of thoughts do not serve you in any way. You owe it to yourself to find 15-30 minutes every day to get ineffective thinking out of your way. Put positive thoughts into your mind, remind yourself how amazing you are and how your possibilities are unlimited. Find peace of mind in different forms of inspiration daily. When your fear starts to get out of the way, that’s when you will feel more empowered.
Step into your greatness and shine like you were meant to! Choose to Be a Champion! Claim your potential! It’s your time!
The #1 key to improving any area of our lives and to change our lives or the better is the ability to understand who we are and take a proactive posture in choosing how we think, respond, and react.
Create positive change within yourself by facing the negativity and turning them into workable points. This way, you won’t have to be crippled by fear of failure, rejection, or self-doubt. You can look at them as potential points to work on for a better future. With a commitment to daily personal development, you can take a proactive role in turning your self-limiting thoughts into those that support your unlimited possibilities.
Thoughts are things, so think well!
What areas of personal development do you want to work on and why? Share with us your thoughts in the comments section below.
Up Next: Develop your Outrageous Courage!
Editor’s Note: This article was published on April 10, 2016, and has been updated for quality and relevancy.