Fear. Fear pushes us forward and pulls us back. Fear can be as tangle as the person sitting next to us on the bus. The Urban Dictionary has an interesting definition for fear that I think applies to the topic that I am about to talk about.  “Fear is the mind killer. Fear is the little death that brings total obliteration.” What is in our mind is often worse then what is in the real world.

When I talk about new technology in the Midwest, most peoples eyes glaze over. Because here is a dirty little secret that I try to hide. I would say 70% of the homes here still have the rotary phones the phone company installed on the wall in the 60‘s. Say it aloud “ro-ta-ry phone”. It takes 5 minutes to dial a number and if you mess up in the middle, you have to hang up and start over. So talking about phones that do not have a key board to dial on instills a tangible fear in the listener. A few steps were skipped. How we get push past this fear of moving too fast?

We acknowledge that fear. What people think about technology without having used it is far more threatening that what reality ever could be. We help them face it. Then we walk them through it. Fear should not be what holds back people from progressing forward.

I have to be gentle with my fellow neighbors in the Midwest. Less bull in the china shop and more gentle sheep that children pet at the fair. I put the technology in their hands, on person at a time. People aren’t going to ruin my phone by playing with it and I let them touch it. I take the time to explain what it can do for them. Easing one fear after the other, till the only emotion that is left is excitement.

Next week, Part 2 will touch on the topic of fear of success in the Midwest