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Unleashing Your Imagination: Overcoming Fear with Jonathan Doyle
Episode 4429th May 2023 • The Daily Podcast with Jonathan Doyle • Jonathan Doyle
00:00:00 00:07:12

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Welcome to the captivating world of motivation and personal development with renowned international speaker and author, Jonathan Doyle. In this groundbreaking episode, we dive deep into the power of imagination and its profound impact on overcoming fear. Prepare to embark on a transformative journey as we uncover the truth that fear is nothing but imagination un-directed.

Join us as Jonathan Doyle shares his unique insights and practical strategies for harnessing the immense power of your imagination to reach your goals and unlock your true potential. In this captivating conversation, you'll learn how to shift your perspective, redefine fear, and embrace your creative faculties as the driving force towards a life of fulfillment and success.

Are you ready to break free from the shackles of fear and uncertainty? Through Jonathan's guidance, you'll discover how to channel your imagination in positive ways, reprogram your mindset, and navigate the challenges that hold you back from achieving your dreams.

Get ready to gain practical tools and techniques that empower you to direct your imagination towards your desired outcomes. Jonathan Doyle's profound wisdom and engaging storytelling will inspire you to step outside your comfort zone, embrace new possibilities, and unlock the untapped potential within you.

Whether you're seeking personal growth, career advancement, or a transformative shift in your mindset, this episode is your gateway to a life lived fearlessly. Say goodbye to limiting beliefs and embark on a journey of self-discovery, where the power of your imagination becomes the catalyst for extraordinary achievements.

Join us on this empowering episode of motivation and personal development, as we delve into the depths of imagination and unlock the keys to conquering fear. Together with Jonathan Doyle, let's embrace the limitless potential within us and create a life that surpasses our wildest dreams.

Don't miss out on this transformative conversation. Tune in to our podcast episode, "Unleashing Your Imagination: Overcoming Fear with Jonathan Doyle," and discover how directing your imagination can propel you towards your goals, leading to a life of fulfillment, joy, and boundless success.

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Transcripts

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Well, hello there.

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My friend, Jonathan Doyle with you once again, welcome to the daily podcast.

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Glad you are here.

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Thanks for stopping by.

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Today.

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I'm going to talk to you about something that all of us deal

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with through the journey of life.

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Sometimes we deal with it on an everyday basis.

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For some of us, it can be absolutely debilitating.

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It's the whole concept of fear.

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I think we can agree that at this moment in history, anxiety

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is absolutely running wild.

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I've talked about it many times in the podcast over the years.

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I think what has helped me.

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Understand it most effectively is just to come at it from the.

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The lens of evolutionary psychology.

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So, uh, biological brains.

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Have not changed a great deal in about 350,000 years.

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350,000 years ago, the number of threats in our environment were very, very small.

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Now they were real.

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Starvation disease being attacked and killed by other groups or tribes that were

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real things, but there was pretty much.

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I would say those three, you could maybe throw in the weather.

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Which kind of, I guess, related to possible starvation or extreme

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weather events could have caused all sorts of problems, but, you know,

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yes, the, the risks were real, but humans were very resilient, right?

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So we learned to adapt to change, to grow, to come up with ideas, to be ingenious.

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So our brains kind of recognized threats, but there was only a small

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number of threats to recognize.

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So what we're dealing with of course in the 21st century is that the biological

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architecture, the actual physical structures of our brain haven't changed

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very much in terms of their capacity to deal with threats and anxieties.

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But the number of theoretical threats and anxieties we face has grown exponentially.

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So.

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Simply what that means is, you know, being late for a meeting.

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Affects your body and brain in a similar way to the way your body and brain

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were affected by a saber tooth tiger.

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Now they're vastly different, but the, the biological mechanisms that trigger the

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response or the same mechanisms, right.

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So we've kind of got.

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The same tools, at least at the biological level that we had over

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300,000 years ago, but there's vastly more complex environments.

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That's one of the reasons why.

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Anxiety's become such a huge thing.

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You know, you know, given day you could be worried about finances or your kids

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or your friend's kids, or your friends or your career, or, you know, what's

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happening in the weather or you turn on the TV, open your internet browser.

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And of course there's a million things to be worried about.

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So that's kind of, what's driving a lot of it.

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So in this short message.

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I wanted to offer something a great quote here.

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That, uh, I heard a while ago.

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I can't find the exactly where I wrote the notes down, but it's

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a very, really helpful insight.

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You're ready here.

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It is.

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Fear.

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His imagination.

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And directed.

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Fear is imagination.

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Undirected.

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Think about that for a moment.

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You know, almost always what we fear is in the future.

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Now you could split hairs with me here.

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You could get a bit.

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Particularly, you could say, well, what if you're standing

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in a room and a snake comes in?

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Well, look, if we're going to go really theoretical, the fear is still

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theoretically in the future because the snake hasn't beaten you yet.

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Okay.

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So what you're afraid of hasn't actually happened, the snake

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comes in, but what are you doing?

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You're imagining the snake biting you.

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Now it might, it might bite you in a couple of seconds, but

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it hasn't happened yet, right?

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So, you know, if let's just say, for example, you're a

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highly trained snake Wrangler.

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The snake comes in the room and your imagination is doing

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something very different.

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Your imagination is going well.

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You know, I'm just, I'm just gonna stand still.

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And the snakes probably not gonna attack me now, I guess this is

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a rough example right there.

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How many there are, there are many permutations and there's, some of

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you are thinking, well, what if it's a really aggressive snake?

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Okay, I get your point.

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But do you see other fears still in the future and how we imagine

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what is going to happen to us?

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Is so much of what shapes our experience.

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Right.

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So fear is imagination.

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Undirected.

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Think of those times of night you've laid awake.

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You've laid awake for hours, worrying about your boss was going to say, or.

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Whether this person was going to go out with you or any

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number of other possibilities.

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And our imagination was doing.

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Incredibly unhelpful things to us.

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You know, John Milton in his famous book in the 16th century paradise lost.

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There's a great line where he said, uh, the mind is its own place and can make

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a heaven of hell or a hell of heaven.

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You know, there was this awareness in the, in the great riders that are mined.

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Was really capable of doing any number of possible things, depending on all sorts

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of factors, context, influence history.

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Personality types, but.

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Let's start to realize the parts that we can control.

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The fear is imagination undirected.

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Then maybe the way out of this is to get really good at directing our imagination.

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I want to, you know, Add to this a little bit with a great quote from mark Twain.

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Samuel Clemens of course was his real name who wrote Tom Sawyer and

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the adventures of huckleberry Finn.

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And much more, but he said this I've had a lot of worries in my life.

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Most of which never happened.

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I've had a lot of worries in my life.

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And then, you know, the way that he writes, he always has these little,

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little sting in the tail where he says, uh, most of which never happened.

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You ever been there, you ever had some serious worries about X happening?

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And the worst never happens.

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And I say to people that, you know, some people like, well, one of the

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worst does happen and I go, well, you'd be surprised you actually will adapt.

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But what I can, if I can't adapt well, you'd be surprised.

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People actually tend to adapt.

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We have incredible freedom now.

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You may choose not to adapt.

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You may choose to find a disempowering meaning to your loss or to

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your suffering or to your fear.

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That's very human too, right?

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We kind of decided that, uh, what's the point.

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There was nothing we could do and nothing's going to change.

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So we actually give up, that's learned helplessness.

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But the truth is that whatever you fear.

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There's a very good chance that you would actually adapt and manage it.

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So friends let's wrap up.

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First part fear is imagination undirected.

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So let's get better at directing the imagination.

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Let's get better.

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Because you have the time, we honestly don't know what's

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actually going to happen.

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We really don't.

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So, instead of assuming that the worst is going to happen, we are just as

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capable of assuming that maybe something good's going to turn up, you know, And

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as mark Twain says, the things that we worry about most of which never happens.

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So that's my message for you today.

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Fear is imagination.

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Undirected let's get much better at directing the imagination.

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How do you do it?

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Practically?

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You catch yourself in the act.

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You basically have to say, ah, I'm doing that thing.

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I'm doing that thing.

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You catch yourself doing it, right.

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That's how it works.

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So start to get vigilant, start to switch on.

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Start to become much more clear on a daily basis or in how you

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are directing that imagination.

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All right.

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That's it for today?

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Please make sure you've subscribed.

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Hit that subscribe button.

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There'll be links here to book me to speak live conferences, events.

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You can bring me alive to your event.

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And that's it for today god bless you everybody my name is jonathan doyle

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this has been the daily podcast and you and i are going to talk again tomorrow

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