My belief is that most of us limit ourselves not by the competition or the resources we have available but by always listening to our own (often critical) inner voice which is forever filtering what we can and cannot do e.g. ‘I cannot do this because I am nor creative enough’. Our noisy, incessant judge restricts our performance and hampers our ability to achieve our full potential.

 But what informs this critical filtering voice? My suggestion is what I call the Nine Fears.

These are:

1.       The fear of being wrong

 2.       The fear of being different

 3.       The fear of excelling or being outstanding

 4.       The fear of change

 5.       The fear of failure

 6.       The fear of responsibility e.g. becoming a parent or a leader

 7.       The fear of not being perfect

 8.       The fear of the new

 9.       The fear of criticism

 These 9 fears are a powerful force that can intimidate or scare you to only except the safe, proven and incremental. They can force you to become less that you are capable of. Or as Spencer Johnson asks all of us, ‘What would you do if you weren’t afraid?’

 So how do you overcome some or all of these 9 fears? My suggestion is to try Speed Thinking. My theory is that because you have to create nine possibilities in 2 minutes you are too busy to listen to your own barracking crowd telling you what you can’t do.

 You simply are—you create, decide or solve problems with your authentic, creative self. You can glimpse your true potential.

 Try it – it’s truly empowering.

Ken Hudson is the pioneering developer of Speed Thinking and you can find out more about this amazing productivity tool at http://www.speedthinkingzone.com