The fear of being fully alive

Fear and discomfort hold us back from living life to our full potential. 

As humans, we naturally prefer to take the easy path in life. We don’t want to do things that are uncomfortable or uncertain. We don’t like stepping outside of our comfort zone.

Psychologist Abraham Maslow believed we all have dreams and desires for greatness. Still, most of us will eventually sit on our life’s dream.

We effectively box it up in mothballs, hiding it out of sight for the rest of our lives.

Why?

Because we struggle with a cluster of emotions and fears, he called “The Jonah Complex,” named after Jonah in the bible. This fear prevents self-actualization, which is the realization of one’s talents and full potential.

There is a kind of terror of being fully alive, so instead, we shrink away from the full intensity of life.

This is precisely what happens when we get presented with a big challenge or opportunity or when we need to make a change.  Our fear of the unknown paralyzes us into doing nothing and staying in the comfort zone.

Remember the story of Jonah in the bible? God asked Jonah to go on an important journey to deliver a message to the Ninevites. But Jonah was afraid that he wasn’t worthy of this responsibility. So he went off in the opposite direction and tried to hide away from his mission.

Like Jonah, we fear that we will encounter difficult obstacles along the way if we pursue our most important life goals. And it’s true. We will! And like Jonah, what we fear even more is standing out from the crowd.

So we remain in the shadows. Eventually, our comfort becomes our “un” – comfort as we realise that we are missing out on living life to our full potential.

So, what’s the good news ? – Well, you’re not alone.  Most of us experience this kind of fear….but the truth is, you can overcome it.

And the bad news ? To overcome it, live a better life, earn more money, or get a better job, we have to step out of the comfort zone and into our fear.

And yes, this can be uncomfortable! But that’s precisely what you need to do to grow! – step into your fear and cross over to the other side.

To achieve self-actualization, we need to go beyond our fears.

When I started my digital marketing journey, I knew that to do this properly; I would have to do some difficult things. I’d need to make some changes and get uncomfortable. Looking back at it now, I’ve come a long way, but I realise the journey doesn’t end here.

To grow, we need to keep pushing ourselves.

So, what’s stopping you?

Send me an email or add your comment below to let me know…