Before I walk on the stage, I have this pit in my belly. It tightens and pushes against something inside of me. I want to walk away (wait I really want to run away) because I’m not sure I can do this in front of this group of people. I don’t know if they will nod and affirm my words. I don’t know if the audience is going to look at me like I’m crazy. I stand there, and I wonder if I should do this. Then, I cuss aloud.

Eff—-this. I’m not giving in to this fear.

I walked out onto the stage and delivered my five-minute story like a fearless and magical midlife maven.

A week later, I was featured on a television show to promote my podcast. 

Right now, I’m in Paris celebrating my 6th decade. 

In a few months, I will travel across the sea to another continent to share this journey of living happier with a group of amazing women. 

It’s all because I decided to unfriend FEAR and block her access to my brain and my body.

After years of working on this fear mindset that would attempt to take over my body and talk me out of my destiny and happiness more often than not, I am finally saying Eff- FEAR. If you’ve never met fear, you’re a lucky woman. However, if you know fear like I do, you understand the trauma and drama fear can bring into your life. Fear is the lame frenemy who doesn’t want you to do more, live better, and be happier because you’ll have to leave her behind. 

F.E.A.R. (false evidence appearing real) will have you living in a proverbial cardboard box if you don’t tell her to sit down and shut up. The box that fear keeps you in says you have to stay at that job until you turn 65. The box that fear keeps you in says you have to hold onto those friendships that side-eye you for wanting to travel the world. That box that says you can’t live out your dreams because you’re past some magical age (Lie!!)

So, how do you get out of the BOX, unfriend F.E.A.R., and STOP living small?

1. Release the norms of society.​ 65 (or whatever # you’re ‘shoulding’ yourself) is not the age that activates true living. That age is whatever number you want it to be.

2. Start thinking BIGGER.​ If you think you would like to travel to Jamaica, turn that into a bigger vision of traveling to every Caribbean island within six months.

3. Drop the naysayers.​ If you have friends who tell you of all the things that could go wrong, drop them. Yep, I said it. Drop them. We want to surround ourselves with solution-focused individuals, not naysayers.

4. Take a RISK!​ The only way to get out of the box is to JUMP, LEAP, DIVE, & FALL. Yep, I said fall…ALL of these actions will mean you may fall…and that’s fine.

5. Pat yourself on the damn back.​ You are doing what others are too scared to do (see how FEAR shows up), and you’re handling your business. Pat yourself on the back. Pay yourself. Treat yourself (here’s a trip to Europe with me if you wanna GO BIG or GO HOME).

How are you going to unfriend FEAR during the next 30 days?

Drop a comment and let me know what your plan is to LIVE BIGGER for the rest of 2019.