Are you scared? Good.
There is no shortage of wisdom and quotes on overcoming fear, a lot of which seems to vilify the feeling like a monster to be slain. However, instead of vanquishing it, is there really no value in acknowledging our fear and recognising the positive things it brings us? It’s counterintuitive, I know, but let me explain.
I believe a little bit of fear can be a great motivator. It can encourage us to question processes we might have taken for granted, and on a more practical basis, it gets the adrenaline pumping through our system which pushes us to give our best.
Fear is also our mind’s way of telling us to be cautious – perhaps a particular project has a lot at stake, or perhaps we are trying something radically new. Someone who is completely fearless in those situations will probably miss detecting its pitfalls. In this sense, fear is a great teacher as it tells us to be aware of the problem and to plan ahead, preferably with alternative solutions and backups ready.
Most of the time, the anxiety you might feel over an upcoming event is just your mind trying to get you ready for it by going over different scenarios and how to face various problems that might crop up. It’s a type of training, so of course it can be exhausting, a bit like a boat rower practicing at the gym for a race. The key is to keep it to a healthy dose.
The problem of course, is that just like many feelings, fear sustains itself. The more you fear something, the worse your mental representation of it gets, and the more you fear it. How many times have I thought “I can’t believe I was so worried about doing this – now that it’s done, it feels like it was so easy!”. You too? Then hold onto this feeling, we’re going to use it again.
The knack for me is trying to harness fear when it is still in its budding state, before it reaches crippling or paralysing levels. If it’s already getting there, that’s when you pull out of your pocket that feeling you had the last time you went through a similar task (the “I can’t believe it was so easy! Why did I worry so much?” one). This usually helps bring down the fear a few notches.
Then, you can aim to channel the energy your fear created into more productive activities, such as preparation. This way, if after all of this you still feel worried about an upcoming issue, you can tell yourself “Well, yes, it’s scary, but I’ve prepared X, Y and Z as contingencies, so I am ready. And if that’s not enough, well then it's not something that could have reasonably been prepared for and there is no point in worrying.”
Another good thing about fear is that it brings us together as a team, a relic from our prehistoric brains which told us there was safety in number. Going through a stressful time as a team will allow you to come out on the other side with a memorable bonding experience, as long as you’re able to keep the focus on #teamwork and #collaboration throughout (this is precisely why escape room are such a popular team-building experience!). I’m lucky to have a great team around me at Frog Events Ltd. So even if something completely unexpected happened, I #trust that by putting our heads together, we would be able to come up with a solution.
In summary, although everyone experiences things differently, I find acknowledging and accept that fear is just a part of the process, then channeling it into planning and preparation works best for me (and I love my redundancies). Then in the case of events, when it’s go-time, I can just enjoy the adrenaline rush!
So, next time fear is hounding you, instead of vanquishing it like a monster, try harnessing it and making it work for you. Instead of slaying the dragon, ride it into battle.