Fear starts in the mind, not in the world itself. Your mind simulates something you fear that could happen in the future. Since your mind functions as a projector that constructs your reality based on past patterns and beliefs, you are essentially experiencing a filter rather than the world as it is. Dispel the illusion. Keep the truth. The rest is simply figureoutable. 🥳
Tag Archives: Fear
Facing Your Fear of Risk
9th Rest Day for 2022
I took my 9th rest day for 2022 yesterday, Friday, April 8, 2022. I also rested most of Thursday, April 7, 2022 except for pro bono legal work I did for my client in my work as a business attorney. For my day to count as a rest day, I have to avoid all work and be present with my relaxing activities by myself or with loved ones. This past week and the week before, I spent 6 days with my entire immediate family since my sister Mia and her family were staying at my parents’ house in Pearl City, Hawaii for 6 days. They vacationed on their own for 4 days on the Big Island, Hawaii. Despite dedicating my time with my family, I still snuck in work and meetings mainly for my waste to energy and proposal writing ventures with my business partners; thus, those days were not truly vacation days for me.
When I rest, I often read books, listen to audio, and watch videos that help to improve myself physically, mentally, and spiritually. On Thursday, April 7, 2022, I watched and took notes in Google Keep on Marie Forleo’s YouTube interview of Tim Ferriss for 3 hours. The link to the video is here: https://youtu.be/h3X9OFzF6ds. I watched it before in 2017, but there are gems that I did not fully incorporate into my life practices, so it was great to re-listen to it. The following are practices that I will do to manage my anxiety with uncertainty:
Facing Your Fear of Risk
What if I …
Define – Write worse case column with at least 10 items.
Prevent – What can you do to prevent the worse case column, even if it’s 1%? Free subsidies, educational scholarships, work in a gig economy service, etc. Write them down.
Repair – What can you do to repair the damage in your worse case column, even by 1%? Write them down.
What might this look like if it were easy? When I face a challenging project or issue, I will ask myself, “What might this look like if it were easy?” Just by thinking in this way, makes me look at my audacious and time-consuming projects as doable, even easy. This action changes my perspective to a positive one.
I will add another practice that I came up with when facing challenging projects by asking myself, “What might this look like if it were fun?” because when you have fun working, you get into a flow. There is an element that makes it fun whether it is getting new ideas, solving problems, or feeling accomplished. This type of practice also changes my perspective to a positive one.
The books I read during my rest day are: American Seoul by Helena Rho, Quiet by Susan Cain, Daily Rituals by Mason Currey, Atomic Habits by James Clear, and The ABCs of Success by Bob Proctor.
Funny, on a day when I’m trying to relax, I am studying on how to be more productive and better with my mental health. Actively working on my well-being brings me comfort.
Also, reading books and articles by great writers helps me to improve my own writing for my business plans, proposal writing, contract drafting, legislative writing, business letters, copywriting, blogs, social media posts, screenplays, novels, nonfiction mindset book, and other writing projects. Writing is something that grew on me over the years since I was a child. I was never excited about the technicalities of writing when it comes to grammar, but over time, I embraced it. I still make mistakes. It is a craft I am constantly trying to get better at.
Experience the Positive Masters universe at https://positivemasters.com for mindset practices, tips for your passion projects, storytelling, motivational podcast and YouTube channel, and apparel and accessories with inspirational designs and mantras to boost your happiness and counter any anxiety, sadness, or anger you may be facing.
With Warmest Aloha, Jon
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I hold the warmth of your lonely soul – Part 2
I hold the warmth of your lonely soul.
I hold the warmth of your lonely soul.
Let your fears go.
Let them fly away and dissipate.
That’s how we’ll make our escape.
– +positive masters+, Jon Riki Karamatsu, Poem, 6/22/2019 –
You can be physically lonely, and you can be mentally lonely. Your fears can control your mind. You may keep them within you because you don’t want anyone to see your vulnerability. However, by talking about your fears to someone who is understanding, that person may be able to help you to take the necessary steps to push away your perception of your fears, which are often distorted. Talk therapy or psychotherapy with an understanding person can help you break out of your blown out of proportion perception.
In nonattachment, a practice developed in Buddhism, feel your negative emotions but don’t let them be attached to you and bring you down. In the Eightfold Path, the first of the eight practices is to have a right understanding, which is to do your best to understand the truth. Ask yourself, “What is the truth to your fears?” Are your fears real, or are you imagining them? For example, if you’re telling yourself you’re not good enough to succeed, is that really true? No, you’ve succeeded before. Yes, you’ve failed in the past, but that was a part of the process of your growth that led you to succeed again. When you look back in your life, you’ll identify how you’ve made your comeback from your failures. You see, your fears are often filled with things that aren’t true. Don’t let your fears be attached to you. Understand your fears, and let them flow through you so you don’t get held back by them.
Another mindset practice that we mentioned in previous blog posts is the middle way practice that was also developed in Buddhism, which is to stay in the middle of your life’s journey. In this case, by staying in the middle way, you’ll be able to see your extreme perceptions of your fears at a distance to the side or both sides, but you can move past them as your proceed down the middle path.
Combine the middle way practice with psychotherapy, cognitive therapy, nonattachment, and right understanding as an arsenal of tools to overcome your fears.
I wrote the poem pictured in this blog post over a year ago. In it, the protagonist tells his lover to let go of her fears after she bravely reveals them to him (psychotherapy and non attachment). He not only keeps her warm physically, but mentally and spiritually.
With Warmest Aloha,
Jon
Enter the +positive masters+ universe at www.positivemasters.com for mindset practices, motivational writing, wealth development strategies, and inspirational apparel to boost your happiness and counter any anxiety, sadness, or anger you may be facing.
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Welcome Monkey Mind to the Positive Masters Universe!
Monkey Mind has been a part of our DNA for survival since the primitive days of the human race. We had to worry about the downside in order to survive against the threats of nature, other creatures, and our own kind. However, we now live in a time where our daily threats are often our fear of failure in our careers and relationships. A saber tooth tiger is not after us every day. If you worry about failing in your career or personal life, and things you have no control over, you will paralyze yourself from progress. Get your monkey mind out of your head by focusing on what you can control!
Welcome Monkey Mind to the Positive Masters Universe! I don’t know about you, but Monkey Mind has been my nemesis every time I have a vision of what I want to do & where I want to be in my life. On some days, I’m on a roll, gaining little wins left & right. I’m moving forward! I’m feeling good! 😁🐒
Then there are those days when my Monkey Mind takes over. “You’re not good enough,” he taunts. “You’ve never done this before. Heck, no one has done this before. The haters are going to attack you. Play it safe. Do what you know. Do what you’re already good at.” 🐵
I counter him, “Get out of my head Monkey Mind! I can learn. I can reinvent myself. If I fail, I’ll still gain skills, knowledge, & relationships. What I’m creating isn’t for the haters, it’s for my tribe, those who want to be happy & have a purposeful life. I’m being me, the best I can be!” 😫
My friends, if you’re going through these battles internally, I dedicate this Monkey Mind Unisex T-Shirt to you. Win or lose, you’ll be fine. The Positive Masters are with you. Focus on what you can control. Keep learning & growing. Embrace the journey. Don’t be attached to the outcome. Sending positive energy to you! ❤
Our Monkey Mind Unisex Short Sleeve T-Shirts are soft & lightweight, with the right amount of stretch. They are comfortable for both men & women. The following are further description of our shirts: 100% combed & ring-spun cotton (heather colors contain polyester); Fabric weight: 4.2 oz (142 g/m2); Shoulder-to-shoulder taping; & Side-seamed. 👕 😊
[I wrote this post for Positive Masters, an e-commerce store at www.positivemasters.com that provides lifestyle practices, creative writing, apparel, accessories, & fashion to boost your happiness & counter any stress, anxiety, or sadness you may be facing. We offer free shipping for purchases of $50 or more!] ❤
Play It Safe or Go For Your Vision?
[I wrote this article at www.positivemasters.com, an e-commerce website that provides lifestyle practices, writing, apparel, and accessories to boost your happiness and counter any stress, anxiety, and sadness you may be facing.]
Choosing a career that’s relatively safe, although no job is truly safe, may bring peace for you. However, you may have that itch to do the things you’ve always wanted to do, but there’s a higher risk of failure and attacks from haters and critics. The question is, “Will you regret not giving a shot at your dreams?”
You’ve got one shot in your life, make the most of it! The fact that you’re born into this world and still alive reading this article, demonstrates how lucky you are. Scientists estimate that the chance of you existing are about 1 in 4 hundred trillion. That’s crazy odds! Not only are you lucky, you’re a one of a kind with your own personality and way of thinking. This makes you lucky and special!
When I was young, my parents made my two younger sisters and I try many sports and activities. From there, my sisters and I gravitated towards certain sports and community organizations that we enjoyed and had an interest in. My sisters and I continue to do this as adults, trying new things for our careers, community, and personal lives. We push ourselves into uncomfortable territory, but find pleasure in learning, developing skills, and building relationships. However, by exposing ourselves to risk, the greater potential of failure and criticism can be stressful. I’ve had my share of failures. I see failure as part of the process to learn, grow, and evolve. Everyone has a different stress tolerance so its good to assess your goals and strategize on how to execute them. By writing your thoughts and research down, you get a better feel of the system you’ll create for yourself, the daily work placed into your calendar that you’ll need to accomplish in order to get to your various stages of your vision. By doing this, you mitigate some of your risk.
Further, the risks you take to fulfill a dream you have is not going to kill you, unless, you’re planning to do something that risks your life. Yet, your animalistic fears still get triggered when you get anxious of the future such as whether your project will fail or whether you’ll be attacked and ridiculed by critics. You feel like a saber tooth tiger is pursuing you. Your mind can blow your fears out of proportion. Focus on what you can control and don’t let the uncontrollable things take you down. When you succeed, all the worries will be for nothing. If you do fail, you’ll learn, and then pivot to make your next moves, evolving as you proceed on. Either way, you still gain a lot a value: skills, knowledge, and relationships that will propel you forward!
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Even if the world is unkind, the greatest war is in your mind.
Even if the world is unkind,
the greatest war is in your mind.
– Jon Riki Karamatsu, 6/22/19 –
#writing #creativewriting #quote #quotes #mindset #monkeymind #mentalhealth #fear #anxiety #stress #enemies #opposition #sadness #challenges #selfdevelopment #selfimprovement #selfhelp #lookwithin #personalgrowth #read #meditate #write #selfreflection #books #fiction #novels #nonfiction #spilledthoughts
Filed under Books, Creative Writing, Life Coach, Mental Health, Peace, Psychology, Quotes, Writing
Practices: (1) Focus on what I can control; (2) Work on one thing at a time to maximize my productivity; and (3) Be present and put aside my fear of what may or may not happen tomorrow.
My anxiety level is up today so seeing this post by @riskhappy is motivating me to snap out of my terrible feeling. I’m going to focus and work on what I can control. First, my appointments and work I have to finish dealing with my immediate deadline, followed by another deadline, and then another, and then paying a big bill. The first is extremely important because if I succeed in executing it, I can complete what I need to do for the other three areas in the short-run and long-run.
Practices: (1) Focus on what I can control; (2) Work on one thing at a time to maximize my productivity; and (3) Be present and put aside my fear of what may or may not happen tomorrow.
What are your strategies to alleviate anxiety and stress? I hope you’re doing well! ❤
#anxietyremedies #stressrelief #anxietyrelief #anxiety #stress #worry #fear #business #law #governmentaffairs #entrepreneurship #ecommerce #socialmediamarketing #writing #prioritize #productivity #bepresent #mindfulness #keepgoing #stepbystep #personalgrowth #selfhelp #selfimprovement #motivation #quote #motivationalquote #spilledthoughts #practices
Repost @riskhappy (@get_repost)
・・・
“10 years from now, make sure you can say that you chose your life, you didn’t settle for it.” – Mandy Hale #riskhappy
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Whispers
Alone, I fear things.
Whispers that drive me crazy.
My work quiets them.
– Haiku #57, Jon Riki Karamatsu, 5/1/2017 –
#haiku #haikupoem #haikupoems #haikupoetry #poem #poetry #poet #writing #creativewriting #author #jonrikikaramatsu #jonriki #fear #anxiety #whisper #whispers #work #keepworking #keepmoving
Filed under Creative Writing, Haiku, Poems, Writing
JON RIKI KARAMATSU 