Quotes Worth Remembering

Miracles start to happen when you give as much energy to your dreams as you do to your fears.
- Richard Wilkins

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The past is a guidepost, not a hitching post.
- L. Thomas Holdcroft

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Goals too clearly defined can become blinders.
- Mary Catherine Bateson

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We must be careful to build our life around our visions, rather than building our visions out of our history.
- Alan Cohen

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We are continually faced by great opportunities brilliantly disguised as insoluble problems.
- Lee Iacocca

Never Too Late for Courage


Whether thinking about public speaking or the very personal communication we're all involved in each day, fear can
be a factor. But it doesn't have to be.

In order to move from an unproductive attitude toward a highly successful one, you need to recognize your self-limiting behaviors.

Questions to ask yourself:

1. What are my fears?

2. How do I react in the presence of my fears?

3. How does it affect my quest to achieve my goals?

4. Where can I go to get help?

5. What is the benefit of conquering my fears?

You can overcome your fears. Success begins in your mind first. Help is available in this blog and the resources suggested here.

About 80 percent of your success will be determined by what you think. When you overcome your fears, you will move in a positive direction.

Remember that you have only two natural fears, the fear of falling and the fear of loud noises. Since all fears are learned by repetition of negative thoughts, you can reverse this trend by repeating small acts of courage in the presence of your fears. Today is the time to live your life fearlessly.

Because no-fear public speaking and successful assertiveness

relate to self-esteem and self-confidence,

today I am suggesting books closely related to those topics by two of my favorite authors:

Gayle and Hugh Prather

Morning Notes by Hugh Prather

The Little Book of Letting Go by Hugh Prather

Shining Through by Hugh Prather

Spiritual Notes to Myself by Hugh Prather

How to Live in the World and Still Be Happy by Hugh Prather

I Will Never Leave You by Gayle and Hugh Prather

Spiritual Parenting by Gayle and Hugh Prather

Notes to Myself by Hugh Prather

Some advice for speech preparation

• generally, the best speeches make 3 main points
• you should develp an attention-getting opening, think through transitions between points
• and then you should have a conclusion that both recaps your 3 main points and calls for action, or makes a memorable conclusion for the audience to take home with them

Why is Fear of Public Speaking up there with Fear of Death
---and What Can Be Done to Change that Thinking?

1 Fear can be paralyzing or it can be a powerful stimulus to action

2 New behavior such as public speaking is likely to project some fear, discomfort for most people, but that can be countered by remembering success at other new things one has accomplished. Focus on past successes.

3 Fear of most things is usually overblown and should not be allowed to occupy the mind. Refuse to give into the negative thinking. You can do that with practice, and you will feel so good about yourself once you succeed.

4 Even the most successful actors say they have some trepidation before the opening of a new show, but they channel that into stimulus into a sharper, more dramatic performance that appears effortless. You can do this too.

5 Finally, remember your first few times at public speaking is simply new behavior that will soon become more comfortable, that fear is often overblown in life because of new adjustments or behavior, and lastly many others successfully work through their fear of speaking and other things, and so can you. Practice, practice, practice.

With just a little effort you could likely develop an effective 5-7 minutes speech from the above points: you have an opening, 3 cogent points and a conclusion.

Confidence is a habit that can be developed by acting as if you already had the confidence you desire to have.
--Brian Tracy

Act As If

Sometimes, achievement is simpler than most make it out to be. You can act as if you are fully prepared and even very experienced at public speaking or negotiation or effective private communication, whatever the day requires you to do.

Of course, this takes a measure of self-confidence, of belief in oneself; but so does just getting through the day for many people. Is this acting or fooling yourself into an attitude adjustment? For some it may be, but to act as if you can do what you need to do is really what is a big part of everyday life.

When one is called upon to stand up and speak before a group and a flood of fearful thoughts intervene, yes, all the self-esteem and faith and belief in oneself that you can must may be necessary. We do it every day in driving a car, for example, a potentially dangerous enterprise, yet a familiar one.

Many are more afraid of speaking in public than driving (which is more likely to result in injury and death than publc speaking) simply because of the unfamiliarity and the "all eyes are on me" mindset. Get over that.

Step up, believing in yourself and your past successes, and speak and add another notch of achievement to your belt. You may be not only pleasantly surprised in your ability "to act as if" it were all second nature, but alsoyou may also be thoroughly exhilirated at the applause and accolades.