Fear's affect on the workplace

Do you fear change? It’s understandable, many people do. If change is hard for you, as it is sometimes for me, I hope you’ll find encouragement in some steps for facing fear that I recently heard via Rory Vaden.

The first thing to realize is that in the majority of cases, FEAR is False Evidence Appearing Real. Ask yourself the question: How many of the things you have been afraid of have truly come to pass? Our imaginations and creativity are wonderful tools for work and productivity. They can move us in positive directions for finding solutions to problems and developing new initiatives, but when fear enters the picture, that same creativity can be moved in a negative direction as our minds begin to imagine all the horrible things that can happen as a result of what we perceive to be happening as a result of the change.

We all have fear, that is a given, but how we deal with fear varies. Rory gives some great helps in overcoming fear from a book by Jon Acuff, entitled: Start: Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average and Do Work that Matters.

1. Label it. Write it out on paper or speak it out loud. When you voice the fear, it begins to lose its grip on your mind.

2. Counteract it. Refute it with truth. Put your creativity to use in a positive way, and find the supporting evidence for why this thing is not likely to happen. This helps you gain confidence

3. Share it. Fear fears community. Fear impacts the individual, but when we share it, others will start to share their perspective of how ridiculous what your fear sounds. This helps us to see that we were actually allowing something to affect us that was not true, but only lived in our imaginations. 

Creativity is a wonderful thing in the work place. Which will yours be – positive or negative? Don’t let fear hinder you from making a positive and productive impact to your library.