A note from Sandy Gallagher: This month, Bob and I are talking about the comfort zone. Of course, the reason people stay in their comfort zone is fear of the unknown and what will happen if they stretch ourselves beyond their familiar space.
Anders Hansen understands that sense of fear, what life is like when you surrender to it, and what happens when you get comfortable with being uncomfortable. Anders’ experience is perfect for this month’s theme. Read about it below.
Have you ever experienced fear when going after something for the first time? If the answer is yes – congratulations my friend, you just discovered your most valuable ally on your journey towards your dream…
Confused? Follow along – it took me a while to understand this one too!
As an illusionist performing magic for over two decades, it was my job to deceive my audiences, their senses, and perception of reality. However, I realized through conversation with my mentor and friend Bob Proctor that I was deceiving myself as much as I was deceiving my audiences. Do you not see the irony?
Flying 8 times per week to perform shows on cruise ships for years on end left me very little time to consciously think about what I wanted out of life. In other words, I was reacting to life and not creating it, which caused large amounts of irrational fear when attempting to venture into something new. Every time I was about to leave my comfort zone and make a significant change, fear held me back. Does this sound familiar to you?
From the first time I met Bob, my world has expanded so rapidly that fear has gone from being my enemy, keeping me in conformity, to becoming the biggest ally, reminding me that I’m on the right track. Throughout this year, I have been crashing through what Bob calls the “Terror-Barrier” not once, but at least a handful of times. This barrier is like an invisible wall we all must go through when creating any significant changes in our lives. Our conditioned beliefs and paradigms will fight that new reality every step of the way, causing fear and anxiety to flare up when we act on a goal outside of our comfort zone.
The music starts and my pulse is racing as I take the stage at the Paradigm Shift event hosted by the Proctor Gallagher Institute in Los Angeles this past May. I was delivering my brand-new keynote speech at their event as a guest speaker. It was an unforgettable and life-changing moment. However, it was also an experience that brought a certain amount of fear back in my consciousness. A new endeavor, a new first, yet another terror-barrier had arrived!
The same morning as Bob and I talked over the program backstage, he looked me straight in the eyes and with a firm voice expressed the following: “Anders forget your script, you know the topics already, just let it flow. Be you!” So, in that moment, on that stage in front of my mentor, hundreds of participants, and thousands of live streamers from over 120 countries, Bob’s words started to play on repeat in my mind. It felt like time stood still and in that instant, the room and the love I felt from the audience snapped me right out of my head and out of my script. It was terrifying yet with no way back, I crashed through that new terror-barrier and suddenly found myself to be “in flow” and comfortable with this new material with words coming to me easy and naturally. Suddenly I felt grateful for the fear I had experienced earlier as it served as an effective reminder that I was on the right track.
The feeling of gratitude was only amplified afterward when I was approached by a man in his 50’s who told me that the presentation had helped change his life by helping him discover his goal through my 3 I’s to Impossible process.
As so brilliantly put by Joseph Campbell, “The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek”. What fear can you look back on and be grateful for – when you realize that you have just crashed through your own terror-barrier and moved closer to your dream, your version of Impossible?
The discomfort will never go away completely, but it becomes easier and easier every time when you take that deep breath and proceed with a leap of faith. Faith based on understanding and knowledge of why this is happening in your mind. When you step into your power, acknowledge the fear as a friend and ally and crash through your own terror-barrier, you’ll look back and realize that your irrational assumptions were nothing but illusions in your mind all along.
You see my friend, it’s not who we are that’s holding us back. What’s likely to be holding most of us back are the illusions of who we think we’re not.
The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek…
Anders Hansen
Endorsed by his friend and mentor Bob Proctor, Anders Hansen masterfully bridges two decades of experience as an international illusionist with personal development.
Continue the journey of discovering your own illusions with Anders by receiving his FREE weekly videos and learn more about the #1 Illusion that’s likely to be holding you back by clicking here: http://www.andershansen.us/bob-proctor