The one thing holding you back….The one thing that holds each and every one of us back in life is fear.We all have these internal doubts and fears as it’s our way of protecting ourselves.

“Fear can keep you locked up in the prison of comfortable & predictable” – Tony Robbins


Fear of failure, fear of rejection, fear that you are not good enough – we all have them and have done for centuries.     

As artists’ we are creating very personal work and putting that work out into the world and opening ourselves up to other peoples opinions, this accelerates fear.

You have to learn how to deal with it and the best thing to do is not run away from fear or shut it away, it’s actually best to shine a light on it and acknowledge it’s there.

F-E-A-R has two meanings: ‘Forget Everything And Run’ or ‘Face Everything And Rise.’ The choice is yours.Fear of failure, fear of rejection, fear that you are not good enough – we all have them and have done for centuries.I had a chat with my dad recently as his health is forcing him to a crossroads. My dad has always liked making things, in fact I think I inherited my creativity from him.Anyway, he loves making bird nest houses. Really high quality, well designed houses that are very well thought through. I was amazed by what he produced and when he said he wanted to start selling them I was excited for him….but…. his limiting beliefs started kicking in.

When I started asking questions like, how long does it take for you to make one? How much does it cost to make one? He started to resist and within the space of 10 minutes the following sentences came out of his mouth:‘This isn’t a business, it’s just a hobby’

‘I don’t want to get bogged down with this and for it to become stressful’

’This is something I want to do when I retire, it’s not what I should be doing now’

‘If I start to sell too many, I’d have to buy specialist equipment and I can’t afford all that’

‘I don’t want to sell too many as I don’t have a big enough workshop’When we got back to talking about the birds nests his eyes lit up and he was coming out with all this amazing knowledge about what size birds would nest, how they should be kept, the difference it makes to their lives. I could sense his passion.

My dad is unknowingly letting fear take over but he can’t see it. All these comments above are his brains way of keeping him safe. This was the negative committee taking over! Those little voices in your head that find reasons not to do something. The idea of the business side terrifies him, so he then started shooting the whole thing down and placing limits on what he wants.He wants to stay in his comfort zone where things are comfortable and safe.

BUT….unless he deals with these limiting beliefs he will never truly do what he loves for a living.

During his talk, Tim Ferriss shared one huge takeaway that he calls “Fear Setting”.

First, break down the worse case scenarios in three steps called Define, Prevent and Repair.

1. Define a bad thing that can happen as a result of your decision

2. Write down what action you can take to prevent that bad thing from happening in the first place

3. Lastly, determine what you can to do repair the situation if that bad thing happens anywayTanya Michelle Derschow decided to join The Hub the last time we opened enrolment and she sent me this message that brought tears to my eyes…

She is extremely fortunate to be alive.This has made Tanya wake up to her dream of being an artist. I love how she is no longer fearing the art world. Instead of hiding her work in portfolios, she wants the world to see what she does. I’m so excited that Tanya has joined The Hub as she will go From:-Having that nagging feeling that she wants to be an artist but never believing it will happen, having no self belief and feeling like there just isn’t enough time to make this happen.  Then the really hard part of not knowing where to find people who will buy her art and feeling intimidated by the art world.To:-Making art that she is truly passionate about that gives her purpose, to believing she can do it and shining a light on fear.  To connecting with people who will love her art and buy it…..by sharing it with the world and feeling good about it.Tanya wanted me to share this with you in the hope it inspires someone to focus on what really matters.I can’t wait to help Tanya live her dream life, and you can do the same!Comment below and let me know if you have a dream of being an artist but you aren’t living it?  Or maybe you are an artist but you aren’t on the right path? Or maybe you have health issues that are making life challenging?Are you making decisions through fear or through what your heart desires?Choose your dream life now, don’t wait for a health scare.