All of us are facing situations today we’ve never faced before so let me set an expectation for you.
We’re not gonna get it perfect.
Failure is not our enemy; fear of failure is the bigger problem.
Fear creates anxiety. Fear clouds decision making.
Quality perspective minimizes fear and improves decision making!
Here are 9 questions to ask yourself to gain perspective and overcome the fear of failure.
1. DO I HAVE CLEAR, QUALITY PERSPECTIVE?
You have to ask “why”. Why this, why that, why? Dig, dig, dig. Get as much information as you can. Talk to as many people as you can. Talk to your leaders, coaches, and your team.
Get a great, clear perspective. Go ballistic. Gather as much information as you can.
2. WHAT AM I AFRAID OF?
What am I afraid of in making this decision? Where’s my fear here? What is causing me to worry? What is causing me concern?
Do I have enough perspective on this? Do I have enough information on what it looks like when it does work out, and when it doesn’t work out?
Look at everything that’s causing you to be afraid of making the decision.
3. IS THIS A FEAR-BASED DECISION?
Is somebody pushing me? Is somebody pressuring me? Is a situation pressuring me? Am I making the decision because of fear?
4. WHAT OPTIONS NEED TO BE REMOVED?
Start removing things from the table.
Those would be elements that you can say, “if _______ is going to be the outcome, then ‘no’ is the answer. I’m not going to do this.” Start removing those pieces.
Challenge excuses and limiting beliefs.
For example: “I don’t know if we can get this done in this time frame.”
Focus on what is the most important challenge to overcome during this time.
5. WHAT IS THE IMPACT?
Questions to ask to determine the impact:
How will this impact my team? How will this impact our revenues? Is this going to have a negative effect? If it failed miserably, could it put a huge dent in our finances? How will I lead if the impact is negative?
Depending on the answer, either yank it off the table or consider it.
6. IS THIS A LONG-TERM, SHORT-TERM, OR PERMANENT DECISION?
How long will I, or my team, have to live with this decision? What’s the impact of that? Is that acceptable?
7. WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF WE DON’T MAKE A DECISION?
What happens if we don’t? Is everything going to be okay? Is everything going to be copacetic, same as always? Or is that going to impact us in a negative way?
What if we don’t pull the trigger on this? Does that, all of a sudden, cut opportunities out from underneath us? Look at that possibility.
8. WHAT’S THE WORST THAT COULD HAPPEN?
What’s the worst thing that could possibly happen?
What’s the likelihood of it? On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being “it’s unlikely” 10 being “yeah, it will abso-stinkin-lutely happen”, determine the possibility of worst-case scenario.
9. HOW DO I FEEL ABOUT THE DECISION?
How do you feel about this process? What is your gut saying? If you have done all of these things and if you still feel weird in your stomach about making this decision, then pull back.
Do not make the decision. Hold off.
I believe it’s one of a couple of things. It could be God, very possibly.
It could be that you are questioning whether or not you did get all the great information, or it could be that you’re questioning whether or not you trust the information.
Usually, it’s either a spiritual gut check, or it’s an “I don’t think I did my due diligence.”
As long as you go back and make sure you do your due diligence, and it’s still there, it is my belief, the world according to Chris, that it’s going to be a spiritual issue. Pull back, don’t do it.
Do this yourself, and what you’ll find is every big decision that you make going forward, whether it be business or life, you will have new force-of-habit thinking.
Ask these questions to make sure you get to absolute clarity, so you make the strongest decisions possible, not fear-based decisions.
We are in this together! Focus on shaping your future, not being afraid of it!