So last Friday evening I was getting my hair cut at a place that I really love.
It is beyond a hair salon, it is a 
manhole. Not in a sewer sense, but a place where men can sneak off to get their hair done in a way that is manly and not a beauty salon experience. They also offer you a free drink each visit, and they do a little more than cut your hair in the way of neck, head & shoulder massage. Great concept.
This particular visit I bumped into a friend of mine that I have not seen up there before. So we sat and talked for about 15 minutes as my hair chick was running late. He mentioned to me that Phil (the guy that told me I needed to work harder) told him that he needed to call me. Phil thought that my story and experience could likely help him. So, for about ten minutes I told him about my journey with fear and where this whole jump afraid thing got its wings. He was intrigued at the stuff I told him, but I basically got to the point to where all of us have to get to. Where there is a lack of performance, there is fear. His response, “Oh, Totally!”
Honestly this surprised me. Most people will kid themselves about how they are not afraid, and will attribute it to something else. I know I did for a very long time. This guy was pretty unique. He didn’t try to BS me with tales of other things that were preventing his success. He drilled right down to it, or at least did not skirt the issue when I did. This is without a doubt the starting point for getting better. Knowing that there is a problem.
Think of it this way. It is not very hard to get a sick person to the doctor to get well. It is harder to get a sick person sick. By this I mean, “Hey, you going to go to the Dr. for that nasty toe fungus (or whatever)?” “No, I am fine!” The challenge is getting people to the point that they are not fine, once this is understood, getting them to get help is not a problem.
So he said he would call me. Not that I am the doctor, but I do have some advice that will help him. I am still waiting for his call. Right now he is at a decisive point. He knows he is underperforming and that it is due to fear. He knows that fear has been crippling him. Now he has to wrestle through working on the fear thing. And every day that goes by that he doesn’t is one that inactivity begins to take its toll on performance. The fix is simple, but it does require action. I could easily give him very simple steps to up his performance. He knows this. Now it is time to crap or get out of the crapper.