Robin Hills
Overcoming Fear
With a roller coaster, or a bungee jump, individuals face a major personal challenge that may require them to overcome their fears. The risk is perceived rather than actual, as the activity is assessed, safety checked and proven. However, individuals may tell themselves and others that they can’t do it so there is a mental barrier to overcome. Once achieved there is a sense of exhilaration and achievement and people enjoy the ride.
Examples of questions you might use when coaching around overcoming fear.
– Often life is like a roller coaster ride or a jump into the unknown (a leap of faith). How do you overcome internal fears that prevent you from doing something?
– What helps you to overcome these fears? What do you do to improve your confidence? How do you minimise the risks? What kind of coping mechanisms do you put in place to help in these situations?
– What is your attitude to situations that you find very difficult initially?
– How is problem solving tackled? How to you seek solutions to problems?
– What do you do when you try something despite your fears?
– What is your reaction to not trying something? How much do you give into others? How much persuasion is required? What is your reaction to not trying – within yourself and to others?
– Once you have tried something and found that you enjoyed it, do you go back and try again?
– How can you harness the energy and excitement that you get from completing this kind of daunting task?
One of a series of 18 images from the coaching toolbox – Images of Resilience
Find out more about resilience in “The Authority Guide to Emotional Resilience in Business” by Robin Hills.
Interesting article, one that I had to read through twice. You’ve captured an interesting problem that many of us face in our everyday existence. What are we scared of. Roller Coasters are great examples, I have three children. Two of them love roller coasters, the third did not ride, love or even like them for many years.
We worked for a long time to help him overcome that fear, now he loves them.
Great article as always!