Gremlins - what's holding you back?

GREMLINS

ARE

ILLUSIONS!

Recently, I had coffee with my friend, Deborah, who is a Life Coach.

Deborah shared how it’s interesting that some of her clients are successful, while others remain “stuck” and unsuccessful because of the “gremlins” of fear and self-doubt.

That got me to thinking…Gremlins are scary.. they can be pretty big, and I bet if I got close enough to one, they would smell badly too.

But gremlins aren’t real…. Oh, yes, we’ve seen them on the big screen, and the small one that flickers in our living rooms. We’ve read all about them in all their nasty disguises in books and stories.

We’ve been certain some nights, in the long nights of trial and stress, that they were right at our bedside, practically breathing their foul breath on us, waiting to move in and hurt us as we spent a sleepless night of worry and fear.

But Gremlins are not real! They are the stuff of stories. In all good stories, the hero has to encounter the bad guys and overcome. Oh, they’ll cause him or her lots of trouble, binding them up in fear, worry and dread, paralyzing enough to stop the hero from moving forward until at the very last minute, our hero finds a way forward and gains the prize.

Gremlins look so big and nasty on the movie screen and in our imagination as we read a great story. We can become convinced they are real!

Our subconscious is a powerful tool. The size of a house, compared to our conscious mind, the size of a pea. It takes in all information, not sorting between dream and reality. Take enough Gremlin fiction in and you might be convinced that they are real.

But they are not.

Our Gremlins of fear, self-doubt and worry try to hold us back . But the gremlins of night-fear fade back into the shadows as the sun rises each morning.

The self doubt and worry slides away as we move forward towards our goal. Those first steps are hard, painfully hard sometimes. We might whimper with fear, telling ourselves, we just can’t do it.

But each halting step that we take, moves us ever towards our goal. Left foot, right, baby steps, sometimes leaps. And as we see the prize, our goal, our pace quickens.

Maybe, we just MIGHT be able to do it… it It Could be possible… baby steps baby steps. We start to gain confidence, whistling as we go to scare away the gremlins.

Soon, we are running to the goal, casting off our night shawl of all those fears, self-doubt and worry.

We Can do it! We can move beyond our self-limiting beliefs and take our future firmly in hand to make it our present.

When my daughter Rachel was little, we used to make up all kinds of songs. She had a period of her life when she was young and plagued with a lot of fears.

We made up a song that she used to sing all the time…

The lyrics were: Conquer your Fears and Courage will Follow, Conquer your fears and courage will follow… all the days of your life. Not a fancy song, but a heartfelt one. Sing your song of courage as you face your fears.

What’s holding you back today from achieving your goals and dreams?

Fear of success? Fear of Failure? The fear is almost always worse than the worst that can happen.

By moving forward, we let the bright sunshine of hope shine on us, warming our very souls as it burns away the shroud of dark thoughts.

Afraid you don’t know enough to succeed? Seek out the knowledge you need. There are more people willing to give help than you can imagine. Don’t let the gremlins of misplaced ego or self-deprecation drag on your coat tails. Ask for help.

Until you Try, you have no idea how close you might actually be to your goal, or what windows of opportunity are just waiting for you to unlatch the lock and throw them wide.

This is your life. Live it . Take charge. Seize the day.

Here’s to your success!

Sue Mazza

Senior Executive Unit Leaser
Avon Products