I just received a call from one of my personal coaching participants.
A few days ago, one of the condominiums that he was marketing his services to, agreed to allow him to give preview to the residents, on his services.
And today is the big day.
The chances are very high for him to secure a good number of customers in this preview; he discovered that those attending the preview are highly interested in his services.
As this would be his first time giving a presentation in a room fully filled with people, he was naturally having that unpleasant feeling, FEAR.
However, I personally felt that he should not be having any problem delivering his sales pitch since he was an expert in his field.
He definitely sounded very nervous when he called me, though.
As I was listening to him voicing out his concerns, hundreds of similar instances in my life flashed before me.
My first training program was in 1993.
At that time I was involved with 'Safety and Health' at workplaces; I gave brief talks on the importance of wearing safety equipments at work places.
After some time, I progressed on to give full-day training programs on 'Hearing Conservation' for employees of factories that emitted high levels of industrial noise.
When I secured my first contract to conduct a full-day program, I was very much elated and also well prepared.
As the training date was nearing, my fear grew stronger and stronger.
When the awaited moment came, I was fully prepared with all the relevant information and material.
But, when I started to talk, due to fear, I was tongue-tied! NO voice came out.
For almost one full minute, I pretended to adjust my transparencies (those days we used overhead projectors!) while continuously reassuring myself that I could do it! Suddenly, out of nowhere I had this sudden courage and I started to speak, only to realize that my mouth was moving, but without my voice! As I related this to my participant, he burst out laughing and so did I.
It was truly hilarious, and the participants of that training program laughed too.
Somehow, comically I apologized and explained to them that it was my first time conducting a full-day seminar and requested that they have mercy on me! They laughed and assured me that they would take it easy with me.
That, somehow, broke the ice and the program went very well.
As I finished with that, I sensed that my participant on the other end of the line was a little calmer.
Then I said to him, "Just be your self and everything will turn out fine.
When the moment arrives, FEAR will find its way and leave.
Have fun!" He thanked me and we ended the conversation.
After that, memories of other instances when FEAR gripped me flashed across my mind; the time when I got involved in quite a serious accident; the time when my master passed on, leaving me to walk on the path of "TRUTH" on my own; the time when I had serious misunderstandings with my earlier partners leaving me with almost nothing financially and I had to rebuild everything from scratch; the time when I was in the hospital, my wife was seriously ill and I was waiting for days for her to recover, holding her hand in mine while she slept uncomfortably at nights on the hospital bed; the time when the Asian financial crisis was at its peak in August 1998, I had a big position in the markets when they were plunging down sharply (recovering eventually in the next few days); and other instances.
I smiled to myself as I calmly told my mind to lay them off.
As I go through life now, I have learnt to accept that FEAR is, to a certain extent, a part of life.
FEAR helps a person to be careful.
However, it is very important to have the intellect firmly in control and not let FEAR to run riot within.
Make sure you are well prepared for whatever that you are about to undertake and keep reminding yourself that you are prepared; this would to a great extent help you stay calm.
As the saying goes, "a little FEAR helps a person to be careful but too much of it can paralyze a person into doing nothing!"