Apr 57 min read

Crossing the Terror Barrier

Hello my beautiful souls!

Welcome back to the Modern Manifestation blog. Feel free to listen in to today's topic in the podcast.

In my last blog post, we talked all about utilizing our passion to help us manifest the things we want in life. Well, passion is also critical for another psychological dilemma that we often face: The Terror Barrier.

What is the terror barrier?

The terror barrier is the invisible line between what you know and what you don't know. In other words, it is the point you reach before deciding to do what you always do.... or to do something different. To change, or not to change.

The terror barrier is a threshold you MUST cross in order to manifest the things you want in life. It is the brief pause you take before you decide to do something radically different even if it scares the shit out of you, instead of… talking yourself out of it.

The terror barrier is the fork in the road; the moment that decides whether we stay on the same path, or up level to a new one.

For example, let's say you've felt the nudge to change jobs. This idea excites you for a moment... then the terror barrier presents itself. While the idea excites you, you're not sure what is on the other side of this decision, so all of your old programming and beliefs creep into your mind in attempt to convince you why maintaining the status quo is more logical. Most people will acknowledge this intellectual reasoning and let that be the end of the new idea.

No one has ever manifested the life of their dreams by staying comfortable, by staying exactly where they were, by staying safe from challenges.

Bob Proctor said in Born to be Rich that, "You will step forward into growth, or you will step back into safety.... But safety can be a prison.... Bad habits are prisons.... Only those who take risks are truly free".

This really rocked me. You can step FORWARD, into growth, or BACK into safety. You can cross the terror barrier, or you can stay where you are forever. Only those who take the risk to cross, are truly free. Safety can be your prison... your old routine and bad habits can be your personal prison...

When I was 18, I had my first experience with the terror barrier. I was a receptionist for Vector Marketing, AKA Cutco Knives (yep, that person). I was working for a few months as a receptionist, taking calls, and setting meetings. One day, my boss asked me to have a seat in his office. He noticed that my phone call conversion rates as a receptionist were higher than average.

This gave him the confidence to suggest that I would make a better sales person than a receptionist. When he first suggested this, I laughed. Sales was not a part of my identity at the time. It was so foreign, that I couldn't believe he was serious. I'd assumed he was mistaken. He was thinking of someone else, surely.

But my boss planted a seed that day. He told me that only someone who was capable of sales could have the kind of conversion rates I had. That I was already doing a form of sales and excelling at it... I just wasn't getting paid as much as a sales person could. I was getting paid by the hour.

However, I would not cross the terror barrier. I said no. I was comfortable making my hourly wage, knowing what I was going to make each week. I was "fine".

I knew people at this company made more than I did as a receptionist, but I figured it was something THEY had and something I didn't. I was terrified to try, to cross this barrier of terror.

Thankfully, my boss was as stubborn as I was. He decided to give me a push across the terror barrier. He guaranteed that I would make AT LEAST my wage as a receptionist, even if I didn't sell anything. He would make sure I didn't lose a cent, personally. In other words, I had nothing to lose. So, I accepted his help and I crossed the barrier for the first time.

If you've read my blog or listened to my podcast before, then you already know that I never had to ask him to makeup the difference between what I had made as a receptionist, and what I made as a sales professional. Even in my worst sales weeks, I made more than my best weeks as a receptionist.

Since then, I've crossed the terror barrier many times on my own. When deciding to backpack Europe, deciding to change careers, hell even starting this podcast... I'm here to tell you that crossing the barrier has worked in my favor every.single.time. In fact, the only times in life when things didn't work out for me were when I choose safety over the fear of the unknown. When I did NOT cross the barrier.

I am extremely grateful, lucky, and privleged to have had someone believe in me so much, that they built a bridge for me to cross the barrier my first time around. I believe the Universe put him in my path to help me learn this lesson, so I could share it with you.

To that end, I hope this episode serves as your bridge, to help you build your own bridge.

When I learned about the terror barrier, it made more sense to me why I stayed in certain relationships, why I didn't change schools, why I didn't... XYZ. And I wonder, for all of us:

How many of you have stayed in a relationship because you fear what it would be like if you left?
How many of you have stayed in a job that drains you because you’re afraid of what it would take to get another?
How many of you have had an idea that’s excited you for years whether it’s a podcast, a blog, having your own store, whatever it is… And you’ve never taken the first step to pursue it because you’re afraid to start?

The terror barrier isn't logical. Just human. We can be our own worst enemies when it comes to change.

I can’t tell you how many hundreds of ideas I’ve killed, even though they excited me at first… it’s like my ego perked its nasty head up when it saw an opportunity for change and said “bring out that barrier!”

Those who are courageous enough to continuously cross the terror barrier, will follow that initial excitement into a new reality. After all, that initial excitement was your soul exclaiming, "Yes!" before your mind stepped in.

How to Cross the Terror Barrier

Crossing the terror barrier is actually quite simple. So simple, that you already know how to do it. All it takes to cross the terror barrier is a decision to step into the unknown. A commitment to take the action that scares the hell out of you. To take action towards change.

If you want to cross this barrier, you have to be willing to take the first step, no matter how small. Begin taking actions toward that new idea, whatever it is.... and CONTINUE taking action. We don't cross the barrier once and sail off into the sunset (though I wish we could).

Using the example of the career change... the person who crosses the terror barrier might create a list of requirements they need in a job or research companies that align with their career shift. Maybe they even research the requirements needed to be hired, talk to a recruiter, or let their network know they're looking, Perhaps they take an even bigger jump and begin applying for new roles. They take action and they KEEP taking action. They don't just stop after doing 1 or 2 things.

Crossing the barrier is not a one time event. You will have to make a commitment to continue crossing it every.single.day.

Most people cross over the terror barrier a few times in life, only to hop back over to safety as soon as they can; claiming they tried. They hop over the barrier, take a few actions for a couple weeks, and then decide its not working and go back to their old ways before they've had a chance to see their actions manifest a new reality.

You have to make a decision, a commitment, to keep taking actions toward your new idea.

Override Your Programming

Taking action toward an inspired idea has an added bonus: it helps you deprogram your outdated programming. As you continue to take steps toward your new idea, facing your fears, you begin to override the conditioning that's screaming at you to stop.

As you continue to take action, eventually, the new idea you’ve decided to pursue will seep into your subconscious (aka, you're changing your internal programming). Once your new idea is embedded in your subconscious, your reality will begin to change because your identity has changed.

The question everyone asks is, "How long will this take"? Well, this depends on how deep your internal programming is. We're all different! Could be days, weeks, months.... but I would bet it won't take more than 3-6 months to begin seeing change if you're committed to continuous forward movement and actions.

The point is to keep taking action, step by step, until you wake up one day and realize that you've completely altered your way of thinking.

The terror barrier never fully goes away... it's a decision and a commitment that you have to continue to make. Overtime, it gets easier to cross. Instead of an ocean, it’s a stream. You will eventually become someone who is resilient enough to withstand the fear that this barrier creates. You will become someone who is so used to crossing this barrier, that it becomes more of a reminder than a barrier.

You can do hard things. There are so many beautiful ideas out there just waiting for you to say yes. To take action.

How different would you life be if you just said yes and leapt?

If you want to hear more about the terror barrier from the expert himself, click here to access Bob Proctor's explanation on his blog. Better yet, check out the course for yourself!

If you want inspiration to chase that crazy idea...I highly recommend Elizabeth Gilbert’s Book, Big Magic.

(As an Amazon associate, I earn commissions off of qualified purchases)

Thank you for hanging out with me today. I will catch you in the next post!

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