Taking Notes with Tony and Oprah

     Last week I watched a show dedicated to moving forward.  We are held back by our stories.  Our past shapes our beliefs, fuels our fears and blocks us from true happiness.  Fear stops us.  I have been doing a new thing each day to slowly create the habit of accepting the challenges and letting go of the fear.  I am hundreds of days in...but I have decades to deprogram.  Tonight, I look to the inspirations of life coach, Tony Robbins.

     These are some crucial points I will focus on in my journey of moving forward and conquering fear:
 --courage is a muscle you can develop
--courage is feeling the fear and doing it anyway
--divorce your story...it's like a relationship that doesn't serve you
--affirmation does not work for creating a change over fears...you need to be challenged so you     must be careful about who you have a sisterhood with
--if you are going to succeed in anything you need the right strategy, the right story, a quality state
--you change your state when you have to face something you are fearing...change your body, focus  on something you want to be, say what you need to hear
--your life is either a warning or an example to others...you have to decide which one you want to be
--you can switch the fear to power by giving the same amount of energy from one to the other
--so many of the fears that we put out are because we don't want to step out in to the unknown and fear gives us the excuse to stay

They featured a woman who was lost.  She was a mother but knew that motherhood was not all she had to offer.  She had lost her business and was now focusing on one role.  She had become what everyone else needed.  They went on to talk about how most mothers get lost here.  There are six human needs: certainty, uncertainty/variety, significance, love/connection, growth and contribution.
Certainty is removed with fear.  We need variety because we can get bored if we are certain of all outcomes.  We say we like surprises...but we like surprises we want.  The ones we don't want are called problems.  The love and significance that we crave are usually tied up in our childhood and the approval we were always seeking or the avoidance of becoming a failure.   It holds us back from growth.  Where she had focused  her attention and shifted her energy she WAS successful.  If she wants to be successful in other areas all she has to do is invest and believe.

--the fastest way to get out of our comfort zone is to be around people NOT in our comfort zone

--DIVORCE the old story and CREATE the new story....and let it evolve.  When the old story creeps back in you have to be able to dance with fear and find the courage.