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	<title>Peter Shallard &#187; Fear</title>
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	<description>The Shrink For Entrepreneurs</description>
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		<title>Lizard Brain Fear: A psychological shortcut for overcoming it</title>
		<link>http://www.petershallard.com/lizard-brain-fear-a-psychological-shortcut-for-overcoming-it/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=lizard-brain-fear-a-psychological-shortcut-for-overcoming-it</link>
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		<pubDate>Mon, 08 Mar 2010 01:29:23 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Peter Shallard</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Inside your Mind]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Action]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Fear]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Self-Sabotage]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.petershallard.com/?p=692</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The term &#8220;Lizard Brain&#8221; has been thrown around the blogosphere a whole bunch lately thanks to Seth Godin&#8217;s phenomenal new book Linchpin. I first heard the term from international direct response marketing legend John Carlton, who has also been harping on and on about Lizard Brain Fear (and why entrepreneurs must overcome it) for years. [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a class="post_image_link" href="http://www.petershallard.com/lizard-brain-fear-a-psychological-shortcut-for-overcoming-it/" title="Permanent link to Lizard Brain Fear: A psychological shortcut for overcoming it"><img class="post_image alignleft" src="http://www.petershallard.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/lizard-brain-fear.jpg" width="200" height="200" alt="Lizard Brain Fear " /></a>
</p><p>The term &#8220;Lizard Brain&#8221; has been thrown around the blogosphere a whole bunch lately thanks to <a title="Seth Godin's blog" href="http://sethgodin.typepad.com/">Seth Godin&#8217;s</a> phenomenal new book <a title="Linchpin at Amazon" href="http://www.amazon.com/Linchpin-Are-Indispensable-Seth-Godin/dp/1591843162">Linchpin</a>.</p>
<p>I first heard the term from international direct response marketing legend <a title="John Carlton's blog" href="http://www.john-carlton.com">John Carlton</a>, who has also been harping on and on about Lizard Brain Fear (and why entrepreneurs must overcome it) for years.</p>
<p>From a psychological point of view, Lizard Brain Fear is a fight or flight reaction sent by the most ancient part of our brain.</p>
<p>The reaction tends to pop up when we attempt to do something extraordinary&#8230;. in business or life.</p>
<p><strong><span style="color: #ff6600;">Protection in the jungle: </span></strong></p>
<p>In an effort to protect us from the dangerous predators of ancient times, the Lizard Brain pumps us full of fear as we attempt to leave our comfort zone. For us entrepreneurs, leaving our comfort zone can (and should) be a daily occurrence!</p>
<p>&#8220;Leaving our comfort zone&#8221; used to mean leaving the safety of our caves. In a dangerous jungle, <strong>Lizard Brain reactions were not just appropriate, but mighty useful.</strong></p>
<p>In the concrete jungle of today, Lizard Brain Fear is seldom warranted or helpful.</p>
<p>Seth Godin&#8217;s big message (for Linchpins and entrepreneurs) is to feel the fear and do it anyway.</p>
<p>I want to take things once step further with a practical technique for <strong>understanding and overcoming</strong> Lizard Brain Fear.</p>
<p><span id="more-692"></span></p>
<p><strong><span style="color: #ff6600;">Step 1:Â Identify what it is, </span><em><span style="color: #ff6600;">specifically</span></em><span style="color: #ff6600;">, that scares you</span></strong></p>
<p>Fear only ever has one meaning; that there is an upcoming situation you need to prepare for in some way.Â Whether you&#8217;re facing a tiger in the jungle, or your first ever sales presentation, this is true.</p>
<p>Identify the message your Lizard Brain is attempting to send you by getting clear on what you&#8217;re afraid of.</p>
<p><strong><span style="color: #ff6600;">Step 2: Acknowledge the Lizard Brain&#8217;s ultimate intention</span></strong></p>
<p>Every part of you, Lizard Brain included, is doing the best it can to move you towards you goals. The confusing part is the incongruity of you <strong>consciously</strong> wanting to take action, be extraordinary and win success&#8230; while your Lizard Brain is pulling you towards safety and the security of inaction.</p>
<p>Acknowledge and respect the Lizard Brain&#8217;s intention by asking yourself what it&#8217;s ultimate purpose could be. You&#8217;ll soon figure out that it simply wants you to be safe, so that you can relax, be comfortable and be happy.</p>
<p><strong><span style="color: #ff6600;">Step 3: Reassure your Lizard Brain that your intentions are aligned</span></strong></p>
<p>Ask yourself why you desire your big goals. It&#8217;ll be for success, freedom, wealth and <strong>happiness. </strong></p>
<p>The key here is that both you and your Lizard Brain want the same thing (happiness) &#8211; you just have different ways of doing it. Reassure that fearful part of you by reminding it of your highest possible intention for yourself (happiness).</p>
<p>How can that old internal conflict exist when both you and your Lizard Brain want the same thing? That&#8217;s right&#8230;.</p>
<p><span style="color: #ff6600;"><strong>Step 4: Flip the equation</strong></span></p>
<p>Ask your lizard brain how it would feel if, in 5, 10 or 20 years you hadn&#8217;t progressed towards your big goals. Imagine giving in to your old Lizard Brain fears, permanently, then waking up in 20 years to realise what you&#8217;d done.</p>
<p>Turn the fear equation on it&#8217;s head by having your Lizard focus on the disastrous consequences of always settling on what is safe.</p>
<p>Have it <strong>really</strong> <strong>feel</strong> the fear.</p>
<p><strong><span style="color: #ff6600;">FINAL STEP: Take action</span></strong></p>
<p>Go do the thing that used to scare you most.</p>
<p>Questions, queries or reports of breakthrough successes? <strong>Post a comment below</strong> and I&#8217;ll help you out implementing this technique!</p>
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		<title>The Entrepreneur&#8217;s self sabotage explained</title>
		<link>http://www.petershallard.com/the-entrepreneur%e2%80%99s-self-sabotage-explained/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=the-entrepreneur%25e2%2580%2599s-self-sabotage-explained</link>
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		<pubDate>Wed, 02 Dec 2009 20:30:03 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Peter Shallard</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Inside your Mind]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Action]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Fear]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gratitude]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Motivation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Self-Sabotage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Secret]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.petershallard.com/?p=565</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I&#8217;ve got a fantastic idea for my business. I bet you&#8217;ve got a couple too. My idea is a stroke of marketing genius that could help me have fun connecting with a bunch of new clients&#8230; and earn a pile of well-deserved cash, quickly and easily. &#8230; So today I got started on it by [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p></p><p><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-567" title="Rwoaar! Scary self sabotage monster" src="http://www.petershallard.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/scary-monster1-225x300.jpg" alt="Rwoaar! Scary self sabotage monster" width="225" height="300" />I&#8217;ve got a fantastic idea for my business.<strong> I bet you&#8217;ve got a couple too.</strong></p>
<p><br class="spacer_" /></p>
<p>My idea is a stroke of marketing genius that could help me have fun connecting with a bunch of new clients&#8230; and earn a pile of well-deserved cash, quickly and easily.</p>
<p><br class="spacer_" /></p>
<p>&#8230; So today I got started on it by checking all my favourite news sites, making a snack and catching up with an old friend on the phone. Then it felt like I deserved to watch a little television.</p>
<p><br class="spacer_" /></p>
<p>Suddenly, what&#8217;s left of the day has gone. Business hours are over. As I drove home, I told myself I&#8217;ll get stuck in tomorrow, after a relaxing evening and a good nights sleep.</p>
<p><br class="spacer_" /></p>
<p><strong>The Self Sabotage monster strikes again!</strong></p>
<p><br class="spacer_" /></p>
<p>This article uncovers the psychology of self sabotage and gives you practical tips on how best to overcome it&#8230;</p>
<p><span id="more-565"></span></p>
<p><br class="spacer_" /></p>
<h2><span style="color: #ff6600;">Does this sound familiar?</span></h2>
<p><br class="spacer_" /></p>
<p>If you&#8217;ve ever worked for yourself (or, let&#8217;s face it, for someone else) you probably know what it feels like to get stuck in a self sabotage cycle.</p>
<p><br class="spacer_" /></p>
<p>For me, it always meant coming to the end of the day feeling really fired up and motivated for tomorrow&#8230; but waking up only to procrastinate again.</p>
<p><br class="spacer_" /></p>
<p>At a psychological level, this kind of self sabotage could also be described as &#8220;motivation in hindsight&#8221;&#8230; since we struggle to take action in the moment, but also regretfully look back on all the wasted hours.</p>
<p><br class="spacer_" /></p>
<p>In my experience as a consultant (across different industries), it seems that this particular brand of <strong>motivational dysfunction</strong> is especially common among biz owners and the self employed.</p>
<p><br class="spacer_" /></p>
<h2><span style="color: #ff6600;">The lizard brain explains it all</span></h2>
<p><br class="spacer_" /></p>
<p>Outside of our conscious awareness, there is a mental program running which makes this illogical sabotage suddenly make sense.</p>
<p><br class="spacer_" /></p>
<p>As entrepreneurs, most of the activities we regularly procrastinate (via self sabotage) are the significant, high impact tasks&#8230; like my marketing idea&#8230; or any sales stuff you&#8217;ve been putting off.</p>
<p><br class="spacer_" /></p>
<p>The tasks are significant and high impact because they help our businesses grow in leaps and bounds. Successfully achieving these tasks is what makes us entrepreneurs and enables us to remain <strong>happily unemployable</strong>.</p>
<p><br class="spacer_" /></p>
<p>Taking action on these tasks means leaving our comfort zone. It&#8217;s scary &#8211; and our lizard brain understands this and makes sure we know it.</p>
<p><br class="spacer_" /></p>
<p>We ask questions like:</p>
<p><br class="spacer_" /></p>
<p><em><strong>&#8220;But what if my attempt fails?&#8221;</strong></em></p>
<p><em><strong>&#8220;What if they laugh at me?&#8221;</strong></em></p>
<p><em><strong>&#8220;What if they hang up the phone in my face?&#8221;</strong></em></p>
<p><br class="spacer_" /></p>
<p>It&#8217;s really <strong>fear </strong>that causes entrepreneurs to sabotage themselves with procrastination.</p>
<p><br class="spacer_" /></p>
<p>Employees don&#8217;t suffer from this as much, simply because the impact of failing is not so huge. Plus, few employees are required to complete tasks far outside their comfort zone.</p>
<p><br class="spacer_" /></p>
<h2><span style="color: #ff6600;">Want the secret to winning big in business?</span></h2>
<p><br class="spacer_" /></p>
<p>Overcoming self sabotage is what separates the mega-successful entrepreneurs from the wannabes.</p>
<p><br class="spacer_" /></p>
<p>Growing a business takes bravery and a commitment to action, in the face of fear and anxiety.</p>
<p><br class="spacer_" /></p>
<p>If everyone could take <strong>game-changing action</strong> (make the cold calls, do the presentation, publish the sales-letter etc) then everyone would be an entrepreneur.</p>
<p><br class="spacer_" /></p>
<p>Loads of people <strong>try</strong> to make it big with their own business, but the few who are truly successful (in terms of freedom, wealth and global impact) are the ones who overcome self sabotage by realising what it truly is:</p>
<p><br class="spacer_" /></p>
<h2><span style="color: #ff6600;">Fear of failure</span></h2>
<p><br class="spacer_" /></p>
<p>Here are a few tips for mentally reprogramming your lizard-brain to eliminate crippling fear.</p>
<p><br class="spacer_" /></p>
<p>These are all field tested on my real-world clients and are proven winners. Use any <strong>or all</strong> of these techniques to destroy the hidden fears that cause self sabotage.</p>
<p><br class="spacer_" /></p>
<p><strong><span style="color: #ff6600;">1. Outcome clarity (like &#8220;The Secret&#8221; &#8211; only practical)</span></strong></p>
<p>Create a clear, visual image in your mind of what &#8220;success&#8221; looks like for your procrastinated task.</p>
<p>Most self-sabotage begins by people unconsciously making images of failure in their mind (this is where the fear comes from).</p>
<p>Counter-act this useless mental habit by taking 5 minutes to visualise a sparkly, colourful image of success. Pick the exact moment in the future you&#8217;ll want to celebrate the most, then turn it into a gorgeous poster in your mind.</p>
<p>Feel the feelings and live the experience internally&#8230; then take <strong>immediate action</strong> to turn the vision into a reality.</p>
<p><br class="spacer_" /></p>
<p><strong><span style="color: #ff6600;">2. Task chunking (baby steps&#8230; even a baby could do!)</span></strong></p>
<p>Many of my previous clients got hung up trying to do everything perfectly, all at once. A project like launching a new website would quickly dissolve into an enormous, overwhelming mess.</p>
<p>Chunking tasks into minute, manageable steps enables you to commit to taking small actions. Importantly, you can also congratulate yourself for every completed step along the way.</p>
<p>&#8220;Build a website&#8221; turns into &#8220;Meet with a graphic designer, write the home page copy, pick a great hosting company&#8221; etc etc.</p>
<p>Less scary &#8211; more <strong>doable</strong>.</p>
<p><br class="spacer_" /></p>
<p><strong><span style="color: #ff6600;">3. Disaster planning (know what failure REALLY means)</span></strong></p>
<p>Ironically, this technique is the total opposite of my first suggestion. The contraction doesn&#8217;t bother me though, because I know that it&#8217;s possible to do both:</p>
<p>Give yourself a reality check by answering the question &#8220;Whats the worst thing that could happen here?&#8221;</p>
<p>Even if you&#8217;re gambling your children&#8217;s college fund on something, the worst case scenario is usually not even close to real apocalypse.</p>
<p>Work out what total failure would mean, then quickly brainstorm ideas to mitigate this.</p>
<p>By shedding light on the real risks involved in business, we destroy our brains ability to turn those risks into enormous bogeymen.</p>
<p>Use this technique <strong>once</strong>, then quickly move on to positive thinking and action.</p>
<p><br class="spacer_" /></p>
<p><br class="spacer_" /></p>
<p><strong><span style="color: #ff6600;">What other techniques do you use to overcome self-sabotage? Let&#8217;s expand this list (with your help) in the comment section below&#8230;</span></strong></p>
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		<title>Entrepreneur Emergency: 6 questions to ask when things go bad</title>
		<link>http://www.petershallard.com/entrepreneur-emergency-6-questions-to-ask-when-things-go-bad/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=entrepreneur-emergency-6-questions-to-ask-when-things-go-bad</link>
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		<pubDate>Thu, 12 Nov 2009 01:46:45 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Peter Shallard</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Inside your Mind]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Revolutionary Leadership]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Failure]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Fear]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Leadership]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Positivity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Psychology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Questions]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.petershallard.com/?p=553</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Things going pear-shaped or &#8220;the $#*% hitting the fan&#8221; are a reality of being in business. The way we deal with those crisis situations speaks volumes on our character. It is one of the big psychological differences that widens the gulf between successful and struggling entrepreneurs. This super short article is guaranteed to give you [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p></p><p><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-554" title="Entrepreneur Crisis" src="http://www.petershallard.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/disaster-300x225.jpg" alt="Entrepreneur Crisis" width="300" height="225" />Things going pear-shaped or &#8220;the $#*% hitting the fan&#8221; are a reality of being in business.</p>
<p>The way we deal with those crisis situations speaks volumes on our character. It is one of the big psychological differences that widens the gulf between successful and struggling entrepreneurs.</p>
<p>This super short article is guaranteed to give you a powerful,&#8221;take away&#8221; tool for transforming disaster scenarios.</p>
<p><span id="more-553"></span></p>
<p><br class="spacer_" /></p>
<p>In a crisis situation, from flooded offices to losing that crucial contract, the business owner and entrepreneur relies on their psychological conditioning (whether they like it or not).</p>
<p>When confronted with an escalating, sticky situation our mind tends to naturally start grinding it&#8217;s gears. The direction that our &#8220;crisis thinking&#8221; takes us is what will ultimately determine our results.</p>
<p>For the entrepreneur, it is <strong>thinking alone </strong>that dictates if she comes out on top&#8230; or fails miserably.</p>
<p>That thinking begins with the questions we ask ourselves.</p>
<p><br class="spacer_" /></p>
<h2>Ineffective Questions to ask during a crisis</h2>
<ul>
<li>What has gone wrong?</li>
<li>Why is it important?</li>
<li>Whose fault is it? </li>
<li>Why does this happen to me? </li>
</ul>
<p>These are ineffective questions simply because of the kind of answers they produce.</p>
<p>Mentally answering the first two questions, for example, is only going to create a greater sense of loss and dread&#8230; as you contemplate the magnitude of the screw-up or disaster you&#8217;re facing.</p>
<p>The 2nd two questions are used by people trying to come to terms with the loss by pushing the cause of it outside of themselves. This kind of thinking robs you of the power to change your situation &#8211; focusing instead on blaming others for your plight.</p>
<p><br class="spacer_" /></p>
<h2>Useful questions to resolve problems</h2>
<ul>
<li><strong><span style="color: #ff6600;">What (emotional) state would be most useful right now?</span></strong></li>
<li><strong><span style="color: #ff6600;">How do I want to remember this in 6 months?</span></strong></li>
<li><strong><span style="color: #ff6600;">What can I learn from this?</span></strong></li>
<li><strong><span style="color: #ff6600;">What do I have the power to change?</span></strong></li>
<li><strong><span style="color: #ff6600;">What resources do I have available?</span></strong></li>
<li><span style="color: #ff6600;"><strong>What have I got to be grateful for?</strong></span></li>
</ul>
<p>These questions demand that you focus on the most destructive part of any crisis: Your personal emotional state.</p>
<p>Secondly, you force yourself to frame the circumstances from a far more useful perspective&#8230; Very few disasters have ramifications beyond 6 -12 months.</p>
<p>By focusing on the personal learnings you can make, you reframe any negative situation as a powerful turning point in your entrepreneurial education.</p>
<p>Shouldering the responsibility to make changes forces us to realise the resources that we have &#8211; external and financial&#8230; or internal and mental.</p>
<p><strong>Use these six questions to avert disaster and transform crisis into something useful. </strong></p>
<p>&#8230; mastering this one skill will put you in the same league as the world&#8217;s top business leaders.</p>
<p>You can be sure that your business hero didn&#8217;t get there by asking &#8220;Whose fault is this?&#8221; &#8230; so neither should you!</p>
<p><br class="spacer_" /></p>
<h2><span style="color: #ff6600;">My crisis&#8230;</span></h2>
<p>Many years ago I lost an enormous corporate consulting contract&#8230; at the last minute. Having signed off the deal, I was literally waiting for the first advance payment to appear in the bank.</p>
<p>Like all inexperience entrepreneurs, since I was positive I would get this deal&#8230; I had &#8220;banked&#8221; on it and was relying on the payment to balance my budget.</p>
<p>When a natural disaster (seriously) forced my client to cancel the contract, I experienced a personal crisis of some magnitude. Awake til 4am, I wondered what I would do and where I would find the kind of cash I was relying on.</p>
<p>I personally spent days meditating on the first list of crappy questions. It was an extraordinarily dark time. When a friend (and fellow NLP person) emailed me the list of 6 &#8220;useful&#8221; questions, it turned things around for me.</p>
<p>The questions gave me the perspective (and necessary change of state) to dig my way out of potential ruin. I lost that particular client, but moved on to others.</p>
<p>In particular, I learnt an enormous lesson about budgeting on dollars that are not in the bank (don&#8217;t do it!).</p>
<p>For me, realising that I had so much to be grateful (despite my natural inclination to forget everything good in the world) was the most significant turning point.</p>
<p><br class="spacer_" /></p>
<p><span style="color: #ff6600;"><strong>Let me know (via the comment section below) when, in your life or business, these questions could have useful for you&#8230;</strong></span></p>
<p><br class="spacer_" /></p>
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		<title>The Entrepreneurs Dilemma</title>
		<link>http://www.petershallard.com/the-entrepreneurs-dilemma/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=the-entrepreneurs-dilemma</link>
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		<pubDate>Tue, 10 Nov 2009 04:25:23 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Peter Shallard</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Mind Marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Customers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Fear]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Innovation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Metaphor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Selling]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.petershallard.com/?p=543</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[On a sunny day last week, I walked through the historic Sydney suburb of Glebe for no other purpose than to enjoy a cafe lunch and browse 2nd hand book stores. What I was to discover, however, was startling proof of &#8220;The Entrepreneur&#8217;s Dilemma&#8221;. This is a social-psychological phenomena that plagues innocent business owners &#8211; [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p></p><p><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-545" title="The big dilemma in action" src="http://www.petershallard.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/IMG_01571-235x300.jpg" alt="The big dilemma in action" width="235" height="300" />On a sunny day last week, I walked through the historic Sydney suburb of Glebe for no other purpose than to enjoy a cafe lunch and browse 2nd hand book stores.</p>
<p>What I was to discover, however, was startling proof of &#8220;The Entrepreneur&#8217;s Dilemma&#8221;.</p>
<p>This is a social-psychological phenomena that plagues innocent business owners &#8211; sowing the seeds of self-doubt and financial disaster.</p>
<p><strong>Want to know what it is?</strong></p>
<p><strong><span id="more-543"></span><br />
 </strong></p>
<h2><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #ff6600;">Unisex (isn&#8217;t the answer)</span></span></h2>
<p>On my stroll, I walked past an interesting kind of store.</p>
<p>A sign (you can see it on the left) lured me towards the store&#8217;s proudly displayed merchandise.</p>
<p>Unisex is an interesting idea simply because male/female differentiation is one of the more traditional demographic gaps.</p>
<p>Today, more and more businesses are discovering that increasing the gender focus of their products is a valuable move. Coca-Cola, for example, recently made the decision to market Diet-Coke to women, while reserving Coke-Zero for a high octane, testosterone driven campaign for young guys.</p>
<p><strong>However</strong>, there are plenty of things in the world that benefit from being unisex.</p>
<p>Wine (luxury or otherwise), travel and real estate seem like great examples of industries where gender is irrelevant and unmeasured. They&#8217;re unisex by default.</p>
<p><strong>So what was so unusual about this cheap, &#8220;NEW&#8221; item of undetermined gender? </strong></p>
<p><br class="spacer_" /></p>
<h2><span style="color: #ff6600;">The sign was attached to a rack of shirts</span></h2>
<p>This store was the kind of budget clothing outlet that hocks off un-branded beach clothes to passing student travellers.</p>
<p>Shirts (T-shirts especially) have always been potentially unisex, but no one ever advertises them as such.</p>
<p>Here&#8217;s why:</p>
<p>The store owner meant well in this scenario and the basic logic is simple: If you advertise shirts to both men and women, you should double the chance of a sale.</p>
<h2>WRONG</h2>
<h2><span style="color: #ff6600;">When you try to appeal to anyone, you end up alienating everyone.</span></h2>
<p>As you may be able to see from the photo below, the shirts are unusual&#8230; but there wasn&#8217;t anything wrong with them.</p>
<p><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-544" title="The entrepreneur's dilemma" src="http://www.petershallard.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/IMG_0157-225x300.jpg" alt="The entrepreneur's dilemma" width="225" height="300" /></p>
<p>What is wrong is how full the rack was. Clearly the shirts were not moving out the door.</p>
<p>I can&#8217;t help but think that the store owner would have been more successful if he had put a sign up that said:</p>
<p><strong>&#8220;Crazy hippy beach shirts &#8211; $5&#8243; </strong></p>
<p>&#8230; because that would grab the attention of every free-thinker headed to the beach!</p>
<h2><span style="color: #ff6600;">What does this mean for your business?</span></h2>
<p>I got an email from a client yesterday, asking my advice on a proposed re-brand and new focus for her business.</p>
<p>As a financial advisor, she was considering the one of the following options:</p>
<p><br class="spacer_" /></p>
<p><strong>1. Focus entirely on working with female business owners as a specialist advisor</strong></p>
<p><strong>2. Go after women in business, newly graduated students, young professional couples and families</strong></p>
<p><strong><span style="font-weight: normal;">Friends told her that she&#8217;d be very brave to go for option one&#8217;s niche focus. Others thought she&#8217;d be stupid to &#8220;limit&#8221; herself. </span></strong></p>
<p>I cant help but wonder if the T-Shirt store guy was afraid of the &#8220;limitation&#8221; too.</p>
<p>At the heart of it, many entrepreneurs have a powerful fear of &#8220;potential loss&#8221; tickling the back of their brain. The thought of all those customers outside of your target market, who <strong>won&#8217;t </strong>buy from you,Â is kind of scary right???</p>
<h2><span style="color: #ff6600;">Reality check: Be scared if you&#8217;re not in a niche</span></h2>
<p>Internet marketing folks have known this truth for a while &#8211; but the lesson is just as relevant for today&#8217;s real world, brick-and-mortar entrepreneur:</p>
<p>By trying to target the &#8220;Mass Market&#8221; you put yourself in competition with the biggest brands in your industry. These are the corporates that have multi-million dollar ad budgets. You will not win.</p>
<p>The world (or even my client&#8217;s city) does not<strong> want or need </strong>another financial advisor &#8211; but an expert on helping female entrepreneurs plan their financial life might be useful.</p>
<p>I ended the email dialogue by challenging my client to target <strong>only entrepreneur mothers!</strong> This would take her niche to a whole other level &#8211; and give her an excuse to market to any number of coffee groups and day-care centres.</p>
<p>Besides, if she does a good job and word spreads&#8230; I&#8217;m positive it wouldn&#8217;t be a problem to work with the occasional non-entrepreneurial mum (or even&#8230; *gasp*&#8230; a dad).</p>
<p>It isn&#8217;t so much about the day to day reality of doing business &#8211; it&#8217;s about the story you are telling and the message it sends.</p>
<p>Let&#8217;s face it &#8211; occasionally some guys buy girl&#8217;s t-shirts (it&#8217;s actually a fringe fashion in some parts)&#8230; and women often buy small sized men&#8217;s clothes.</p>
<p><br class="spacer_" /></p>
<p><strong><span style="font-weight: normal;">Let your prospect customers know who they are and why you&#8217;re right from them. </span>Success only happens when you overcome the fears that prevent this. </strong></p>
<p><br class="spacer_" /></p>
<p><strong><span style="color: #ff6600;">What kind of message is your business sending? </span></strong></p>
<p><strong><span style="color: #ff6600;">Could you overcome your fear and target a more specific group of customers?</span></strong></p>
<p><strong><span style="color: #ff6600;">Let me know what you think &#8211; by leaving a comment (scroll down)</span></strong></p>
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		<title>Enrich your life &#8211; guaranteed (the real secret)</title>
		<link>http://www.petershallard.com/enrich-your-life-guaranteed-the-real-secret/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=enrich-your-life-guaranteed-the-real-secret</link>
		<comments>http://www.petershallard.com/enrich-your-life-guaranteed-the-real-secret/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 05 Aug 2009 02:00:22 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Peter Shallard</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Inside your Mind]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Action]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Failure]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Fear]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hobbies]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Positivity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Psychology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Skiing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Secret]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.petershallard.com/?p=395</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[There is a psychological &#8220;a-ha&#8221; (I call it a &#8220;Eureka&#8221; moment) that every successful entrepreneur just &#8220;gets&#8221; at some point in their career. Usually just before they absolutely master the science of achievement. Thing is, it isn&#8217;t easy to &#8220;get&#8221;&#8230; it fact, it is one of the most painful lessons you&#8217;ll ever learn. The secret [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p></p><p>There is a psychological &#8220;a-ha&#8221; (I call it a &#8220;Eureka&#8221; moment) that every successful entrepreneur just &#8220;gets&#8221; at some point in their career. Usually <strong>just before they absolutely master the science of achievement. </strong></p>
<p>Thing is, it isn&#8217;t easy to &#8220;get&#8221;&#8230; it fact, it is one of <strong>the most painful lessons you&#8217;ll ever learn</strong>.</p>
<p>The secret lies in knowing this, expecting the hurt&#8230; and then going for it anyway. Really, the lesson is all about embracing pain.</p>
<p>Let me explain&#8230;</p>
<p><span id="more-395"></span></p>
<p><br class="spacer_" /></p>
<p><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-398" title="The best learning experience... hurts!" src="http://www.petershallard.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/skifall-300x199.jpg" alt="The best learning experience... hurts!" width="300" height="199" />I&#8217;m in the zone. Hurtling at high speed straight down a super steep ridge&#8230; slicing and dicing snow into a huge cloud of powder behind me. Clearly, I am the the coolest thing skier on the whole mountain today.</p>
<p>Just when I&#8217;m feeling the most confident, <strong>everything changes. </strong></p>
<p>Before I can blink, I&#8217;m airbourne and the crashing down the hill. In a motion described by experts as &#8220;tomahawking&#8221; (picture a spinning ax), I flip head over heals and finally come to a not-so-graceful halt with my head buried in the snow.</p>
<p>My entire body is aching like I just finished a bar fight with a 300kg gorilla. I try to get my breath back and simultaneously realise I&#8217;ve got snow all through my mouth, nose and trousers.</p>
<p>Worst of all, I have absolutely <strong>no idea</strong> how this even happened!</p>
<p><br class="spacer_" /></p>
<p>When you&#8217;re speeding along in business, sometimes you&#8217;ll fall flat on your face. It&#8217;ll happen so fast that it&#8217;s hard to pinpoint the cause.</p>
<p><strong><br />
 </strong></p>
<p><strong>Ultimate learning: </strong></p>
<p><span style="color: #ff6600;">1. You now know where your learning curve is&#8230;</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #ff6600;">2. You now have the feedback you need to know <strong>when </strong>to start paying extra attention</span></p>
<p><br class="spacer_" /></p>
<p>See, as soon as I fell down the mountain, I limped back to the hut for a warm drink and a moment&#8217;s thought.</p>
<p>I realised that I hadn&#8217;t been focused &#8211; my attention was on performance (going faster and faster) and I wasn&#8217;t paying attention to the conditions underfoot.</p>
<p>This <strong>lack of focus in the right places </strong>caused me to catch a ski in a patch of soft powder. End result = me flying!</p>
<p><strong>The ironic thing? </strong>Powder is supposed to be &#8220;ideal&#8221; for skiiers, but because I wasn&#8217;t paying attention, a pocket of this <strong>perfect</strong> snow totally ruined me.</p>
<p><br class="spacer_" /></p>
<p><span style="color: #ff6600;"><strong>The ultimate, ULTIMATE learning:</strong></span></p>
<p>Without falling over, <strong>we cannot learn</strong>. The more spectacular the fall, the more neccessary and <strong>urgent</strong> it is to make the learning.</p>
<p><br class="spacer_" /></p>
<p>All really good skiers who know how to go fast, are always (as I learned) keeping an eye out for variable snow conditions.</p>
<p>This is something beginners don&#8217;t need to know about. When you&#8217;re slowly cruising down a slope, sudden ice or powder (or change fullstop) is easy to deal with.</p>
<p>&#8230; You make a few changes to your technique and keep on cruising!</p>
<p><br class="spacer_" /></p>
<p>It&#8217;s only when you&#8217;re on the fast-track that you need to watch out and utilise<strong> lighting-fast reflexes </strong>to adjust to the conditions.</p>
<p><strong>Learning this is something I would never had the opportunity to do, had I not skiied (stupidly) fast in the first place.</strong></p>
<p><br class="spacer_" /></p>
<p>When I go really fast, I realise that the chances of a fall increase dramatically. Still, I consistently ski to my <strong>absolute edge</strong> because that is the <strong>only way to rapidly increase skill. </strong></p>
<p><span style="color: #ff6600;">I know to expect pain. </span></p>
<p><strong>The big secret</strong>: If you&#8217;re not looking forward to the pain of falling over, you&#8217;re wasting your time and the pay off probably isn&#8217;t worth it either.</p>
<p>Anyone who finds skiing boring isn&#8217;t going fast enough. Anyone who finds skiing <strong>hard</strong> isn&#8217;t falling over enough.</p>
<p><br class="spacer_" /></p>
<p><strong>Make your life, hobbies and business easy &#8211; Discover your absolute edge and push yourself beyond it</strong>. <span style="color: #ff6600;">W</span><span style="color: #ff6600;">hen you pick yourself up again and keep at it, you&#8217;ll soon realise that your personal &#8220;edge&#8221; is getting bigger and bigger&#8230;. </span></p>
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		<title>This&#8217;ll change your day in 3 mins</title>
		<link>http://www.petershallard.com/change-your-day-in-3mins/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=change-your-day-in-3mins</link>
		<comments>http://www.petershallard.com/change-your-day-in-3mins/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 22 Jul 2009 23:00:50 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Peter Shallard</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Inside your Mind]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Action]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Fear]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.petershallard.com/?p=344</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[That massive thing that you&#8217;ve been contemplating? Yeah, you know the one. That huge thing you&#8217;ve been procrastinating &#8211; hiding from even? (let&#8217;s be honest) I know it&#8217;s scary&#8230; so much to be gained&#8230; and yet if you were to screw up and fail it could really hurt! What is the worst case scenario? Make [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p></p><p>That massive thing that you&#8217;ve been contemplating?</p>
<p>Yeah, you know the one. That huge thing you&#8217;ve been procrastinating &#8211; hiding from even? (let&#8217;s be honest)</p>
<p><span style="color: #ff6600;">I know it&#8217;s scary&#8230; so much to be gained&#8230; and yet if you were to screw up and fail it could really hurt!</span></p>
<p><span id="more-344"></span></p>
<p>What<strong> is</strong> the worst case scenario?</p>
<p><br class="spacer_" /></p>
<p><strong>Make a list of all the things that could go wrong if you attempt the thing you&#8217;ve been putting off.</strong></p>
<p><br class="spacer_" /></p>
<p><strong>Stick your list up on the wall.</strong></p>
<p><br class="spacer_" /></p>
<p><strong>Look at it.</strong></p>
<p><br class="spacer_" /></p>
<p><strong>Are you <span style="color: #ff6600;">really </span>the kind of person who is prepared to go through life and say they <span style="color: #ff6600;">never tried</span> because they were afraid of &#8220;the list?&#8221;</strong></p>
<p>I ask the hard questions so you don&#8217;t have to&#8230;</p>
<p><br class="spacer_" /></p>
<p>&#8230; share your longtime feared actions below, in the comment section:</p>
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		<title>Failure &#8211; It&#8217;s the new success</title>
		<link>http://www.petershallard.com/failure-its-the-new-success/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=failure-its-the-new-success</link>
		<comments>http://www.petershallard.com/failure-its-the-new-success/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 20 Jul 2009 21:00:22 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Peter Shallard</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Inside your Mind]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Failure]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Fear]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Skiing]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.petershallard.com/?p=331</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[When launching a new business, project or idea I believe every switched on entrepreneur should work hard to fail as quickly as possible. &#8220;What?!&#8221; I hear you ask&#8230; Yes, FailureÂ  (with a big F) is the new success! It is, in fact, often more useful to fail than be successful. Let me explain why&#8230; To [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p></p><p>When launching a new business, project or idea I believe every switched on entrepreneur should work hard to fail as quickly as possible.</p>
<p><br class="spacer_" /></p>
<p>&#8220;What?!&#8221; I hear you ask&#8230;</p>
<p><br class="spacer_" /></p>
<p>Yes, FailureÂ  (with a big F) is <strong>the new success</strong>! It is, in fact, often more useful to fail than be successful. Let me explain why&#8230;</p>
<p><span id="more-331"></span></p>
<p><br class="spacer_" /></p>
<p>To take you back to <a title="Enrich your Life (guaranteed)" href="http://www.petershallard.com/07/enrich-your-life-guaranteed/" target="_blank">yesterday&#8217;s metaphor</a>, when I go skiing I constantly look to try new things:</p>
<p><br class="spacer_" /></p>
<p>Conquoring steer slopes, jumping bigger jumps and speeding through narrower chutes is what excites me.</p>
<p><br class="spacer_" /></p>
<p>All of these activities require a significant improvement in skill.</p>
<p><br class="spacer_" /></p>
<p><span style="color: #ff6600;">The thing about &#8220;skill&#8221; is that it is kind of like &#8220;potential&#8221;: Difficult to measure until you&#8217;ve actually <strong>used it</strong>. </span></p>
<p><br class="spacer_" /></p>
<p>When it comes to skiing, the only real measure of skill happens when you head down the extremely steep slope&#8230; without really knowing if you&#8217;re going to make it out okay. If you&#8217;ve got enough skill, you exit the chute (or jump etc) feeling good. If you&#8217;re not quite there yet,<strong> you fall over, get up and do it again. </strong></p>
<p><br class="spacer_" /></p>
<p>The biggest problem I see in beginner entreprenures is the <strong>&#8220;imaginary business&#8221; </strong>attitude. This is when someone dreams up a brilliant business idea but procrastinates taking &#8220;the leap&#8221; because of <strong>fear of failure. </strong></p>
<p><br class="spacer_" /></p>
<p>When you&#8217;re inexperienced and your business is still somewhat &#8220;imaginary&#8221; <strong>failure should be deliberately sought after. </strong></p>
<p><br class="spacer_" /></p>
<p>It&#8217;s simple: <span style="color: #ff6600;">the real world will test your ideas more thoroughly than your imagination ever could. </span></p>
<p><br class="spacer_" /></p>
<p>If you DO fall down, the process of picking yourself up and <strong>trying again</strong> will enable you to <strong>effectively &#8220;up-skill&#8221;</strong></p>
<p><br class="spacer_" /></p>
<p>&#8230; this makes the next idea that much more likely to succeed.</p>
<p><br class="spacer_" /></p>
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		<title>Enrich your life (guaranteed)</title>
		<link>http://www.petershallard.com/enrich-your-life-guaranteed/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=enrich-your-life-guaranteed</link>
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		<pubDate>Mon, 20 Jul 2009 00:41:57 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Peter Shallard</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Inside your Mind]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Fear]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hobbies]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Metaphor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Skiing]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.petershallard.com/?p=319</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[There is one technique that stands out from all the rest. The world&#8217;s most successful entrepreneurs and business people often share this strategy in common. It isn&#8217;t an NLP technique or some other kind of tool (in fact, it&#8217;s hardly psychological). Read on to find out&#8230; A vertical drop of hundreds of feet, rocks and [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p></p><p>There is one technique that stands out from all the rest. The world&#8217;s most successful entrepreneurs and business people often share this strategy in common.</p>
<p>It isn&#8217;t an NLP technique or some other kind of tool (in fact, it&#8217;s hardly psychological). Read on to find out&#8230;</p>
<p><span id="more-319"></span></p>
<p><br class="spacer_" /></p>
<p>A vertical drop of hundreds of feet, rocks and razor sharp ice below, no parachute or safety gear of any kind besides my trusty helmet.</p>
<p>A little voice at the back of my mind screamed at the absurdity of what I was about to do.</p>
<p>I leapt.</p>
<p><br class="spacer_" /></p>
<p>The guaranteed method for enriching your life, in financial terms and in pure <strong>enjoyment</strong>, is simple:</p>
<p><br class="spacer_" /></p>
<p><span style="color: #ff6600;"><strong>Get passionate about a hobbie</strong></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #ff6600;"><strong><br />
 </strong></span></p>
<p>Here&#8217;s why:</p>
<p>When the business elite unwind with their favourite pastime, they&#8217;re not destroying braincells in the same way you and I might, when we crack a beer and watch TV.</p>
<p><strong>Hobbies enrich the mind</strong> &#8211; when you become really passionate and involved in a hobby,<strong> it becomes a parable </strong>of your own life.</p>
<p>As you learn to be successful in your hobbie, in turn, you&#8217;re learning to be successful in life <strong>and</strong> business.</p>
<p><br class="spacer_" /></p>
<p><span style="color: #ff6600;">The CEO who plays Chess is really practicing to stay 3 moves ahead of the competition</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #ff6600;">The sales star who plays football is conditioning herself to score goals</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #ff6600;">The entrepreneur who builds model air-planes is constructing the way and means to soar<br />
 </span></p>
<p><strong><br />
 My hobby is skiing</strong></p>
<p><br class="spacer_" /></p>
<p><strong><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-322" title="Skiing at Treble Cone" src="http://www.petershallard.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/treblecone.jpg" alt="Skiing at Treble Cone" width="356" height="234" /></strong><strong></strong>I&#8217;m ridiculously passionate about it. For me, a day carving turns in fresh powder is the best thing in the world.</p>
<p>When I leapt off a near vertical, <strong>double black diamond</strong> run (read: as difficult as it gets) at Treble Cone ski resort (Wanaka, NZ) I learned an extraordinary business lesson.</p>
<p>You see, in skiing, there is a big difference between &#8220;average&#8221; skiers (blue runs &#8211; medium difficulty) and the elite who throw themselves down the black (and double black) death-slopes.</p>
<p><br class="spacer_" /></p>
<p><span style="color: #ff6600;">In business, we&#8217;d say there&#8217;s a big difference between the<strong> half-hearted, &#8220;dabbling&#8221; entrepreneurs </strong>who occasionally make a bit of cash and the ultra-successful tycoons with a midas-touch.</span></p>
<p><br class="spacer_" /></p>
<p>The elite skiers seldom get there by skill. <strong>In fact, skill has very little to do with it. Experience also isn&#8217;t important.</strong></p>
<p>Being good enough to ski insanely steep slopes comes down to <strong>one simple strategy:</strong></p>
<p><span style="color: #ff6600;"><br />
 </span></p>
<p><span style="color: #ff6600;">Having the guts to throw yourself down that insane slope, <strong>despite your lack of skill and experience</strong>.</span></p>
<p><br class="spacer_" /></p>
<p>When you shoot off down a black diamond run, your heart is in your mouth&#8230; adrenaline is pumping&#8230; and you <strong>know</strong> you&#8217;re about to die.</p>
<p>You do the absolute best you can not to fall over (and tumble down the mountain).</p>
<p>You focus on getting to the end, not on having fun.</p>
<p><br class="spacer_" /></p>
<p><strong>Then something incredible happens</strong></p>
<p><br class="spacer_" /></p>
<p>You finish the run. You look back on how far you&#8217;ve come. Suddenly it doesn&#8217;t seem so steep. Your adrenaline is wearing off and your brain is flooded with endorphins.</p>
<p>You say to yourself: <strong>&#8220;That was $%#@ing AMAZING&#8230;. I wanna do it AGAIN!&#8221;</strong></p>
<p><br class="spacer_" /></p>
<p>Having the guts to do something incredibly dangerous and difficult actually forces you to develop the <strong>skills and experience you need to succeed.</strong></p>
<p>Every one&#8217;s first black-run is the same&#8230; it&#8217;s all about &#8220;just surviving&#8221; &#8211; just making it out to safety.</p>
<p>The second, third and twentieth runs become about being graceful, fast and precise&#8230; then you start looking for jumps and other opportunities.</p>
<p><br class="spacer_" /></p>
<p>You connect up the dots &#8211; I&#8217;ll get back to skiing.</p>
<p><br class="spacer_" /></p>
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		<title>What prevents you quitting your day job? (part 2)</title>
		<link>http://www.petershallard.com/quit-your-day-job-2/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=quit-your-day-job-2</link>
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		<pubDate>Sun, 31 May 2009 21:00:30 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Peter Shallard</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Careers that Count]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Fear]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Procrastination]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.petershallard.com/?p=292</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[We&#8217;ve established that the biggest obstacle most people face, when it comes to setting a new direction for life and work, is fear. Even when you&#8217;re totally prepared and ready to get decisive and take action, a little knot of terror in your stomach usually remains. So let&#8217;s find out how to get rid of [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p></p><p>We&#8217;ve established that the biggest obstacle most people face, when it comes to setting a new direction for life and work, is <strong>fear</strong>.</p>
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<p>Even when you&#8217;re totally prepared and ready to <strong>get decisive </strong>and <strong>take action</strong>, a little knot of terror in your stomach usually remains. So let&#8217;s find out how to get rid of it&#8230;</p>
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<p>Half the time, fear is inappropriate and unwarranted &#8211; which basically means you&#8217;re responding to your past conditioning, like someone with a phobia, only the feeling is probably not so intense (I hope).</p>
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<p>Most of us are conditioned at some level to be anxious about trying new things. My experience, working with clients, suggests that (nine times out of ten) this is because of our schooling.</p>
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<p>For the majority of those important, personality-forming years, we are conditioned to be punished when we fail and rewarded when we find easy success. So when we start stressing out about a new career, business or whatever, it&#8217;s because our <strong>unconscious mind</strong> is back in school &#8211; worrying that failure is round the corner.</p>
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<p>Here&#8217;s the big shift &#8211; the one thing you really need to get:</p>
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<p><strong><em><span style="color: #ff6600;">The emotion of fear preceeds an extraordinary breakthrough</span></em></strong></p>
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<p>That&#8217;s right! Think about it: The times in your life when you <em>have </em>exceeded expectations and done something spectacular&#8230; did you feel nervous or anxious right before that? If not, go try bungy jumping and get back to me!</p>
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<p>In the modern world, discounting all <strong>bear attacks</strong>, every time we feel fear (when prepared to the best of our ability) it&#8217;s a good indication that something super-exciting is just around the corner.</p>
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<p>How do you think your life could change if you adopted a <strong>new belief:</strong></p>
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<p><em>&#8220;Whenever I feel Fear, it means that I need to prepare for something extraordinary to happen&#8221;<br />
</em></p>
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<p>Try it for a week&#8230; I promise the gap between your goals and results will get considerably smaller!</p>
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<p>Peter Shallard</p>
<p><a href="http://www.petershallard.com/about/"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-279" title="Peter Shallard" src="http://www.petershallard.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/peter-toon-bust.jpg" alt="Peter Shallard" width="154" height="225" /></a></p>
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		<title>What prevents you quitting your day job?</title>
		<link>http://www.petershallard.com/quit-your-day-job/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=quit-your-day-job</link>
		<comments>http://www.petershallard.com/quit-your-day-job/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 27 May 2009 09:38:13 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Peter Shallard</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Inside your Mind]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Fear]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Procrastination]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.petershallard.com/?p=277</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Whether you&#8217;re giving up a secure job to do what you love, or creating any major change for yourself, there is one psychological secret you need to &#8220;get&#8221;. This post (and the series thatÂ  follow it) provides insights into overcoming the psychological obstacle that pops up when we humans start getting ambitious. Read on for [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p></p><p>Whether you&#8217;re giving up a secure job to do what you love, or creating any major change for yourself, there is one psychological secret you need to &#8220;get&#8221;.</p>
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<p>This post (and the series thatÂ  follow it) provides insights into overcoming the <strong>psychological obstacle </strong>that pops up when we humans start getting ambitious. Read on for practical tools to overcome this and the more subtle self-sabotage techniques like procrastination and analysis paralysis.</p>
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<p>If you&#8217;re someone who has considered starting their own business, making a major career change or shaking up your own personal &#8220;status-quo&#8221; in any form, I would guess that you&#8217;ve experienced a seriously nasty, gut clenching feeling.</p>
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<p>These &#8220;sphincter tightning moments,&#8221; as one of my client&#8217;s lovingly refers to them, tend to happen everytime we start planning a major change in life. They also hold back 90% of the population from taking <strong>serious action</strong> towards achieving their extraordinary goals.</p>
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<p>The first step to overcoming these mini panic-attacks is to:</p>
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<ol>
<li><span style="color: #ff6600;"><strong>Identify what it is you&#8217;re actually feeling</strong></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #ff6600;"><strong>Determine whether or not it&#8217;s actually appropriate to feel that way</strong></span></li>
</ol>
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<p><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-283" title="Scary Bear?" src="http://www.petershallard.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/black-bear.jpg" alt="Scary Bear?" width="325" height="345" />Fear is actually a very useful emotion. When we&#8217;re walking through the forest and a <strong>bear</strong> jumps out at us, our body pumps full of adrenaline. This is the <strong>fight or flight</strong> reflex.</p>
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<p>As a pre-conditioned reflex, this was damn useful when we lived in the jungle. However in the modern world, <strong>over half of the fear most people feel is inappropriate. </strong>This means that we&#8217;re getting scared &#8211; but there isn&#8217;t any bears around!</p>
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<p>So when we work out that we&#8217;re having a fearful, anxious moment or bothering thoughts that hold us back, we must then work out if the fear we&#8217;re feeling is appropriate or not. Fear is a powerfully protective emotion &#8211; it stops us being eaten by wild animals.</p>
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<p>If there is no real danger, then it means the fear you&#8217;re feeling isn&#8217;t really very appropriate. In fact, all it really means is:</p>
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<p><span style="color: #ff6600;"><em><strong>There is an event coming up you need to prepare for&#8230;</strong></em></span></p>
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<p>That&#8217;s right. That&#8217;s what fear means &#8211; so you&#8217;ve got to prepare yourself for life changing decisions (like quitting your day job)&#8230; and once you&#8217;ve done enough preparation and totally convinced yourself that you&#8217;re ready, the fear should disappear.</p>
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<p>So, are you feeling:</p>
<ul>
<li>Nervous</li>
<li>Anxious</li>
<li>Stressed</li>
<li>Scared</li>
<li>Terrified!</li>
</ul>
<p>&#8230; about a big change, decision or event coming up? Does the idea of doing something <strong>extraordinary </strong>freak you out?</p>
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<p>This could be a message from your unconscious mind telling you to <strong>prepare. </strong></p>
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<p>Want to know what to do after you&#8217;ve <em>prepared?</em> Find out in an upcoming blog update &#8211; <a title="Subscribe to the blog" href="http://www.petershallard.com/sign-up/">subscribe to get it straight to your inbox</a></p>
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<p>Peter Shallard</p>
<p><br class="spacer_" /></p>
<p><a href="http://www.petershallard.com/about/"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-279" title="Peter Shallard" src="http://www.petershallard.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/peter-toon-bust.jpg" alt="Peter Shallard" width="154" height="225" /></a></p>
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