Tag Archives: Comfort Zone

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7 Reasons to “FEAR NOT!”

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Today I shared a new post titled 5 Truths To Help You Do “It” Even If You Are Afraid on The Lead Change Group Blog.  While many of you are familiar with our expat story I have never shared the level of fear I felt when we were asked to make this move.

7 Reasons to Fear Not!

I wrote the story several weeks ago deeply believing that we all battle fear.  And knowing that as long as we are webbed in place we can’t contribute our greatest gifts to each other, to our workplaces, to our communities, or to our world.

Since writing it I have run into more hurdles getting this article published than any other post I’ve ever written.  Which makes me even more convinced that needs to be shared.

If you or someone you know is in the midst of a battle with fear I encourage you to read that article and to savor the quotes below. (Some of the quotes in this post are linked to previous articles about fear.)

1.  Fear defeats more people than any other one thing in the world. Ralph Waldo Emerson

2.  The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown. H. P. Lovecraft

3.  Facing your fears robs them of their power. Mark Burnet

4.  Fear is the main source of superstition, and one of the main sources of cruelty. To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom.  Bertrand Russell

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Navigating Change by Faith: Walking on Stepping Stones In Dense Fog

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Are you in the midst of change and trying to balance the need to take ownership of that change with the need to walk by faith?

Years ago I was struggling to find that balance and wrote this:

I feel like I have been on a path of stepping stones.

Most days this path is surrounded by intense fog that is so thick you can’t see anything – not even the next stone.  

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Employee Engagement | Banging Pans and Throwing Fish in Corporate America

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Increasing Joy at Work Increases Employee Engagement

One evening several summers ago, my husband and I (who don’t have children of our own) were at a playground with my six and seven-year-old niece and nephew.  They took me to the highest part of a fort and told me that I was the princess, they were my guards, and that my husband was “the bad guy.”  I was instructed to stay in the tower and they would protect me!  In the moments that followed, my husband and I were transported back to a world we have nearly forgotten.

As I found myself savoring each second of that evening, I also found myself wondering why we don’t visit that world more often.

The entire experience made me think about the Disney Movie, Monsters, Inc., a movie about Monsters that power their world by capturing the energy in a child’s scream.  Through a series of events they discover that a child’s laugh produces much more energy than a scream.  …Ultimately transforming their entire world.  Do you see the connection to the workplace?  

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What’s Driving You: Fear or Wisdom?

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[Tweet “What’s Driving Me?  Is it Fear or Wisdom?”]

This is a question I frequently ask myself as I make decisions. 

Because – I believe that fear is the greatest when I become consumed with ME. 

  • My comfort, my past pain, my unknowns, what others think of me, of my job security, my physical security etc…

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I also believe that wisdom is rooted in prayer, considering my purpose, the needs of the people and the organizations I serve.

In the summer of 2013 I was a brand new expat with a whopping 3 months of experience living in a foreign country and came face to face with some assumptions I’d always made about how things work when you live outside of the land you call home…  (Yes – I had believed what I saw in the movies and had always assumed that if you were in a foreign country and needed a safe-haven you would find it at your country’s embassy or consulate.)  What I’ve learned since is that there is some truth in that assumption, however, it is NOT the primary purpose of those facilities.

Because of the mass closures of those “safe-havens” that summer –  I kept wondering…  “What’s driving the decision – Is it Fear or Wisdom?”

Fear or Wisdom

As I pondered that question I reached out on Social Media and asked others to weigh in.

What advice would you give leaders to help them make wise decisions instead of fear-based decisions?

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The single best way to develop leaders: Throw them in!

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I read the book The Dream Giver  years ago.  And like most of my books it is underlined, highlighted, corners bent back, and notes filling the margins.

The quote below comes from that book and is one of the quotes that I frequently refer to:

  • Partially because I want people to feel nurtured and supported and I struggled with the idea of just throwing people in over their head.
  • And partially because the quote inspires me to think of what is possible each time someone is in over their head!

…And then one day this quote fit every part of my life, personally and professionally.  In that setting, this quote gave me hope and encouragement in the midst of a very confusing, lonely, painful, scary, and growth-filled time!

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Earlier this week I shared this quote with three women that I knew this would resonate with.