Have you noticed that your inner dialogue, that annoying non-stop mental chatter, always uses the language of hopes and fears? We are constantly talking to ourselves about how things will turn out just the way we want, how others will be impressed, and how happy we will be; then moments later, we are imagining how everything is going to go wrong and how we will fail.

It doesn’t matter the situation: whether we are presenting, in a sales conversation, planning a dinner party, or beginning a new relationship. It’s universal, it’s chaotic, and it’s unhelpful!

What is helpful is to recognize that all those hopes and fears are just our anxious imaginations running wild and that those thoughts are not real. Despite our desperate egos trying to make sense of things, often we really don’t know how things will turn out.

What is helpful is to courageously take the next step in spite of all these mental distractions. It can be difficult to act when we are unsure of the outcome, but we can take the next step in bringing a possibility to life. In fact, that is the only helpful thing we can do.