Fear 101: Use it to know where you should go

‘If you are not nervous in an interview, then it is the wrong interview.’

A girlfriend of mine, maven behind Goddess Huntress (your best on-line resource for high-end, non-toxic beauty info and products), recently told me this was the best piece of advice she received in college. Clearly she’s a smart girl.

If you are not nervous in an interview, then it is the wrong interview. What does that mean?

It means, that when you are on the right track – the one leading you to the bigger, better, more fulfilling place you dream of when you allow yourself to dream – you get nervous. Why?

Because you care. Because this means something to you. (And that’s a good thing.) You’re invested somehow. Maybe your hopes and dreams are involved, maybe your stability and comfort, maybe your self-esteem. Maybe, yikes, all of the above. And so your heart goes pitter-patter as it recognizes the potential gateway to the fulfillment of its desire.

The genius of this piece of advice is that we can use our butterflies as a form of guidance, letting us know that we are on the right path: ‘Gold,’ it proclaims, ‘ahead.’ We can use our nervousness as a flag. Not a red flag, but a green one: This way! You’re on the right track. This is what you want. Something that really means something to you.

In this way can use our fear to show us the way forward – if, that is, we are going for our gold. After that all we need is the courage to go forward and, done and done. ;)