Welcome to April's Slim Down
We Felt The Fear
"Once you've felt the fear and carried on regardless you'll be able to achieve anything you want in life."
(Step 25, The No Diet Diet).
How thrilling is that? The power in your hands to create the life you want! It's true that fearlessness is a great habit-slayer and an excellent confidence booster to boot. It's been on one of the No Diet Diet team's mind a lot recently so that's our inspiration for this month's newsletter.
If you've reached the end of the No Diet Diet programme you'll know what it's like to experience fearlessness, if only for a day. Fearlessness is venturing outside your comfort zone. That, of course, is different for each of us. It could be asking for a pay rise. Or walking into a pub on your own. Or skiing down a black run. It doesn't have to be intrepid, dynamic or heroic but it does have to create some queasiness within and push at your boundaries. The best triumphs over fearlessness involve a real gain for the fearful person who felt the fear and nonetheless still took the plunge. Like Jessica from the NDD team.
Jessica has always fancied doing media work. Last month she was asked to be a guest expert on live radio. Her immediate reaction was to panic - and turn it down. Fearful thoughts took over. It was out of her league, she decided; she wasn't ready (even though they'd picked her as the perfect person for the job, which she was). After a swift talking to from the rest of the team she woke up to a fact. There wasn't going to be a gently entry into TV and radio – she had to jump in with both feet. So she changed her mind and leapt straight into what was mightily uncomfortable at first, but turned out to be absolutely thrilling.
Another No Diet Dieter, Rachel, joined Jessica on the forum with her personal tale of fearlessness. She had decided, since doing the NDD programme, to start a business instead of going back to work after maternity leave. Despite fears about possible failure, she is now doing what she loves rather than what she feels obliged to do. Rachel confessed she even felt fear about telling people what she is doing. But she has learned that life is much better when we follow our hearts rather than our duties. The great quote "Jump off that cliff and be who you were born to be" stuck in her mind and urged her on. She learned that although fear is a limiting factor, it doesn't have to trap you. It can also highlight precisely where we need to grow.
How often are we scared of sounding silly - or frightened of looking a fool? That's when we should remind ourselves of Liz Wilde's definition of fear; it's False Evidence Appearing Real. Psychologists know that when we challenge the reality of our fears, we start to see that they are based upon false evidence. Positive self-talk is crucial too, as Rachel found. Strong affirmations can drown out the sound of the terrorising inner voice that keeps us scared. Finally, active coping is important. On the NDD we always advocate Do Something Different but in the case of real fear it's good to just Do Something, i.e. take action rather than let the fear paralyse you.
So this month we say a big 'hear hear' and thank the author Susan Jeffers for giving us that smashing sentiment of 'feeling the fear and doing it anyway'.
Yours with encouragement to push the boundaries this April,
The No Diet Diet Way Team