So many of my friends & family members tell me how cool they think the 100 Things I Fear challenge is {of course it is!}  They love to read about my fears {that’s kind of sadistic if you ask me, but that’s okay!} and they admire the courage {my sister even called me brave!}

At the same time, so many of them are like, “I don’t have a 100 fears,” {and you can read my response to that here} or “It’s too big of a commitment. “

It’s true: it is a big commitment.  In fact, I am a week behind in updating my list.  Oy!  But, that’s beside the point.  The point is…I thought it would be fun to provide an opportunity for people to play & contribute without committing to 100 days.  So here’s your chance.  Blog or comment your answer to this question:

What do you do to get yourself moving again when you feel like giving up?

We all lose steam every once in awhile – it happened to me this week!  In fact, there is almost always a break-down right before a big break-through.  So wouldn’t it be great to have a place to go to be reminded to keep going and take that leap of faith even when you feel like giving up? Please post your answer {or the link to your answer if you posted it on your own blog} so that we can all learn from your wisdom!

Thanks!  And now I am off to Champagne Friday :~)

I didn’t forget on Sunday and the fear I faced was asking my cast mates to run lines with me {I’m performing as Dorothy in the Wizard of SOM this Wednesday}.  I had sent out an email late Saturday night asking to rehearse after church on Sunday and when I showed up for church the next day the voice of fear said, “No one wants to rehearse with you.  Just forget about it.  Don’t make eye contact and slip away quickly.”  Again, I asked myself, “Am I going to allow fear to lead the way?”

Oh heck no!

I walked right up to cast mates, looked them square in the eyes, and asked if they were available to run lines.  4 of the 6 weren’t available, but 2 were and said yes.  Woohoo!  I received some serious help from fantastic actors all while walking through my own fear.  How cool is that? I am seriously loving this challenge.  I feel more and more courageous every day.  Wait.  Allow me to reframe:

I am more and more courageous every day!

The Hubs continues to be an awesome source of strength

I met with my Think Tank this week. We get together and brainstorm for each other. It’s a great way to grow your business.

Corinne & Kate are awesome!

Then I went over to Santa Clara University to walk through the garden:

It’s a beautiful campus:

On Friday I went to a party and my favorite person was this cutie:

And on Saturday we were of course propped up in front of the tellie watching Cal football!

How was your week? I’d love to hear about it.

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Oh crap! I almost forgot…this week I started 100 Things I Fear and it’s so damn cool! Check it out…

{note: I’m super swamped preparing for my last performance as Dorothy in the Wizard of SOM – I’m sorry if I’m not able to visit your site & comment on your photos this week.  I so love connecting with everyone.}

You know, ever since I started this whole 100 Things I Fear craziness I’ve been so aware of when fear is holding me back.  Of course, the really cool thing about knowing when fear is getting in the way is that then I get to make a choice if I’m going to let it hold me back.  And you know what? When I consciously ask myself, “Am I going to let this stop me?” the answer is:

No! I’m not going to let fear stop me.

I’ve done so many courageous things that I’ve even impressed me.  Like yesterday, a colleague/friend asked me if I would like an introduction to a successful teen advocate and I said yes.  At the time, the voice of fear was telling me, “Why would this guy want to help you?  Just say no.  You don’t need his help.  You can do this on your own.”  I was so close to doing just that: saying no.

And then, I noticed that this was the voice of fear.  Was I going to let it stop me? NO!  And I told her to yes, please initiate the introduction.

Whew!  One fear faced with victory! And by the way, I’ve noticed a theme of fear here in asking for other successful peeps to help me.  Interesting.

Then later that night I was at a party and the karaoke machine was fired up.  I so wanted to sing.  In fact, it was me who asked them to turn it on.  But, then I freaked out. I’d never done this before.  I didn’t know the crowd very well.  What if I sounded like crap?

And then I was like, “Am I seriously going to walk away from this? Am I that concerned about looking bad that I’m not going to do this? But, I love to sing.  Who cares how I sound.  Just do it.  It’s not like these people are going to laugh and make fun of you.  Even if they did you probably won’t ever see most of them again anyhow.”

So, I picked the song I really wanted to sing (Over the Rainbow by Judy Garland) and stood up and sang.  And guess what? I rocked it out! It felt so good to get out of my own way.  It was so liberating to not allow the fear to sit my ass back down on the couch.  You know, if I didn’t sing I would have felt like crap and then probably treated my husband like crap the rest of the night.

Yup, it’s true: when you don’t face & process your own fears, you tend to treat others badly as an outlet – especially spouses! So what are you waiting for? Jump on this crazy bandwagon with me & face a 100 fears in a 100 days!

Yesterday I launched the 100 Things I Fear challenge.  I’m super excited because so many people are taking it on with me!  This is my very first meme and when I put it all together I didn’t even realize that’s what I was doing.  It wasn’t until people started commenting and linking to it that I realized, “Oh…I just founded a meme!”  How cool is that?

Anyhow, some of the feedback I’ve received is, “I’m not afraid of 100 things.” And I really want to address that because you don’t have to be afraid of 100 things in order to join the fun.  The whole purpose of 100 Things I Fear is to stretch your comfort zone a little bit every day. It could be that you are afraid of one thing (like cold calling for your business) and so you do that one thing every day for 100 days.  You see, it doesn’t have to be 100 separate things.  In fact, I don’t even know if I’m afraid of 100 things – although as the Simply Fearless Coach I’m probably afraid of thousands of things - it takes a lot of fear to have a lot of courage – wrap your mind around that one!

Anyhow, here’s what I’m doing…
Every day I think about one thing I could do that I’m afraid of – one thing that forces me to step right outside my comfort zone – and then I go and do it.  I’m really committed to the “little bit every day” piece of the challenge.  Yes, I have already thought about doing 2 things in one day to cover a day that I might not feel like doing it – and if you’re taking the challenge I totally don’t mind if you do that – but, for me the real value is in making it a daily practice because long lasting transformation happens in small, consistent steps.

Yeah, I might not update my list every day, but I will definitely do my 1 thing and post when I’m back on-line – sometimes it’s important not to turn my computer on for a whole day.  Oh!  That could totally be part of someones 100 Things List!  We get so attached to our computers.  Can you imagine not turning it on for an entire 24 hours without telling people ahead of time?

Okay Peeps, go ahead and jump off the 2 inch cliff of fear that can feel a thousand feet high!  You can join the 100 Things I Fear challenge at any time.

This past week I went to visit Pam

so that I could meet her new baby Rothko

and he is adorable!

Then we went out to lunch at Morrocco’s

great food & incredible decor

pretty chairs

plus the coolest lighting in the bathroom!

After lunch we walked through a beautiful church

And on the way back to the car we spotted a tranquil plaza nestled in between the sky rises

with a sparkly fountain

and we simply had to stop and enjoy it.

What a fabulous day with an awesome woman & friend. Thanks Pamela!

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