Opinions of Monday, 19 January 2015

Auteur: Dr S Ranganathan

Lion can teach you about fear and how to overcome it

Fear or necessity makes people to exhibit the signs of innovation, creativity, bizarre traits etc? Which element of the above emotion makes one really an achiever?

Fear and necessity always co-exist as they are two sides of a same coin. The lion hunts huge buffalo not because of ‘just necessity’ i.e., they need to eat. Lion does hunt huge buffaloes only because it does not fear hunting buffaloes. When lions have decided to hut a huge buffalo, they employs different strategies and necessary care and caution. The necessary care and caution should not be defined as ‘fear’ as ‘fear’ and ‘care and caution’ are totally different.

Fear is something born much before a mission whereas care and caution exists throughout the mission, i.e., from beginning to an end. Many would give importance to necessity and then decide either to fight or flee. The achievements during such occasion are accidental in nature and not intentional or well designed.

But see other side of the coin – the fear. Understand how negatively you are influenced by the emotion - fear at the beginning of the mission? Also understand carefully whether it is fear or necessary care and caution you should exert in completing the mission. Fear will impede your journey while the necessity will limit your journey.

Never think necessity will ever make you an achiever. Necessity can at most, makes you busy, compromise/agree and accept the outcomes. In this premises, if you could achieve something, that is it. Such achievements are accidental in nature. Do not go after such achievements. Your success will be grandeur if you come out of your necessity and fear, convert them into necessary care and caution.

People in corporate often express their fear as caution and care. Fear is something that generally appears in the beginning of a mission. Also the fear would impede the mission and its progress.

When targeting such gigantic buffalo, the lion are cautious and careful but not fearful. If they were fearful they would not have dared such fete. It is also not just the necessity that has compelled the lion to go after such big prey. They could do so only because they could overcome the fear by being careful, cautious and strategic.

Bring your success not out of necessity but by overcoming fear and instead of being fearful, be cautious and careful. Many people in corporate gets trapped inside some unfound fear and would love to perish with meager gains than big achievements. They are otherwise very capable, knowledgeable and talented. Unknowingly they get stuck between ‘fear and necessity’ and gets lost over there permanently. The message is that do not be ‘in between’, ‘be outside’ of your ‘fear and necessity’, and be an achiever.

Dr S Ranganathan, ClinRise Derma Pvt., Ltd., Chennai

Desire, Dream and Destination – Social Entrepreneur Forum