The thing you fear the most
“Do the thing you fear most and the death of fear is certain.” – Mark Twain
Q) What do you fear most?
A) The thing I fear most is rejection.
“You must do the thing you think you cannot do.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
Q) What do you think you cannot do?
A) Until recently, I did not think that I could acquire a career-launching position within a company that I love and respect.
“The only story keeping you from having what you want is the story you tell yourself of why you can’t have it.” – Tony Robbins
Q) What stories have you been telling yourself of why you can’t have what you want?
A) For six or seven years (since my senior year of college), I’ve told myself that I am just not any good at interviewing. As rejection letter after rejection letter rolled in from companies in Wisconsin and Minnesota, it became obvious that I was doing something completely wrong – or so I told myself. My parents even (subtly) suggested that it may be my weight. So I told myself it must be me. I’m too heavy. I picked the wrong major. It must be that no one wants to hire some one with an entrepreneurship background. I transferred colleges and part-time jobs too often. The jobs I did get hired for after college, I stayed on longer than I should have. I worked like a crazy person – 20 hour back-to-back days, 60-90 hour weeks – and got burnt out. I did amazing work during that time, but I wore myself out. All I did was work. And when I burnt out, I fell hard, and left on a less-than-stellar note having nothing much to show for my rockstar work pace. Despite the community involvement, campus involvement, stellar references, great GPA, work ethic (prior to aforementioned burnouts), and killer resume that always got the interview – I told myself that I was not hirable. At least not for a challenging and fulfilling career-level position with full benefits where I could earn enough money to not have it be on the forefront of my mind everyday. No, I definitely was not hirable for something like that. This is the story I’ve been telling myself for years and years – and years.
Then last summer I learned I had two felonies on my background report – one for kidnapping and one for cocaine distribution – that were NOT MINE. I also learned that these felonies had been on my report since 2003, two years prior to when I began interviewing.
So it wasn’t me. It was an error in a database.
Which brings us to the present day in sunny and hot Arizona where I’ve finally come to the realization that I. AM. HIRABLE. And even though I definitely do fear rejection letters, especially knowing how much time and energy I will be putting into my career search, at this point I feel that it’s something I need to take on and prove to myself that launching a career with a company I respect and love and can grow with is something that I, Sara Ann Hefty, can do. After all, my parents and grandparents worked too many hard hours in order to give me the opportunity of a better future. To be able to honor their commitment by putting forth my absolute best effort and obtaining the first real job that I can be 100 percent proud of will be an amazing feeling of joy and thankfulness.
How about you over there on the other side of the screen? What do you fear? What is it you think you cannot do? What stories have you been telling yourself of why you can’t have what you want?
About Sara
Sara Hefty (B.B.A. and H.H.C.) teaches workaholic women how to have it all and flourish without burning out, binging or being spiteful. As an expert in transformational health coaching, she holds women accountable for letting go of unwanted weight, being brilliantly nourished, grounded in truth and feeling confident, happy and playful every single day.
As a woman with her own weight loss story, wide-ranging family heritage of cancer, and a graduate of the Institute of Integrative Nutrition, Sara’s appreciation for convenient nutrient-dense food, personal growth, inspiring design, financial responsibility, and social entrepreneurship led to her “Pursuit of Ownership: Health, Home, and Legacy” model of heart-on-fire-hot empowered living.
Sara is the founder of PROJECT LUX and SaraHefty.com. She currently lives in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, with her husband Brian and hound-dog Raja.
