Fear and Indecision

Fear and Indecision

      What is holding us back? What prevents us from reaching our goals? Do we get paralyzed by indecision or by fear? Fear of failure leading to indecision is a strong force that limits us and keeps us from reaching the great possibilities that life has to offer.

“Be Like Ike!” – First Grade Famous Americans Day

We become limited by fear of failure, fear of making the wrong decision, or fear of just not being good enough. Fear then can cause indecision which inhibits active steps toward our goals and limits success. Fear is an obstacle to performance and ultimately results.

Perhaps the greatest damage brought by fear is indecision. Most of the time, any decision is better than no decision. No decision puts us in the false security of activity as opposed to progress. We can see examples of this all around us. There is a strong tendency to lapse into busyness of indecision. We many times tend to use activity to camouflage our fear when in reality we get stuck in indecision with no movement toward results oriented forward progress. We have to be careful not to confuse “activity” with decisive action.

We can reduce fear by making decisions based on values and integrity that point to objective performance goals. Having a framework within which we consistently make decisions with an eye on performance results is a habit we can develop to make us continually more effective. We learn that fear itself is worse than limitations imposed by the resulting indecision.

One of the aspects I love about Ironman racing is the opportunity to face fear and its limitations, and keep on going. Even after 18 Ironman completions the fear doesn’t go away, but the ability to conquer it does. Ironman is a metaphor for the goals, the planning, the preparation, the guidance, and the execution to get to the finish line. We know there will be hard work and obstacles that we run into. The one big lesson is that no matter how tough things get, no matter where we are in life, just like out there on the run course we got to keep putting one foot in front of the other. And if you keep doing that, keep heading in the right direction, doing what you are supposed to do, you will get to that finish line.

Performance based competition teaches us that when we take a risk and dare to succeed we become better and achieve more than fear would allow. The Ironman motto “Anything is Possible” can only happen if we consciously choose and decide to overcome limitations imposed by fear and choose to always move forward.

Overcoming fear and the resulting indecision will allow us to achieve greater levels of performance success resulting in a life of greater fulfilment and satisfaction. Face the fear and decide to succeed!

Never fear,

David