FEAR is the number one reason that people neverachieve their breakthrough to success. Yes, we can blame otherpeople for not giving us the chance. We can lament that we took thewrong course. We can express concern about the uncertainty ofobtaining that success, and maybe, just maybe I'll look stupid.In short, our fear comes down to two enemies. Ouruncertain future and our excuses from the past. Or. More simply:"what if" and "If only". What if/If onlyWhen you have a goal worth achieving, you will needto achieve breakthroughs.Breakthroughs that take you outside of your comfortzone and going outside your comfort zone is fearful. So what can you do to ensure that you create thenecessary breakthroughs that will lead to your dramatictransformation?And we have to conquer two enemies: “What if” and “IfOnly”And each requires you to do two things:Take courageGet off your ‘but’ Take courageLet me share a brief personal story:Known as the Swiss Wall, La Chavanette at Avoriaz isone of the most dangerous ski slopes in the world.It is a disturbingly steep, mogul run and the slopegets icy quickly, turning the area between moguls into ice sheets.Not making a turn in these situations means that you miss the nextmogul, and pick up too much speed to make the next one after that,starting off a tumble that ends a couple of hundred metres down theslope, while hitting a few dozen icy bumps in the course. A number of years ago, as a reasonable, but by nomeans good skier, I decided that I just had to conquer thisslope.Why? Well, I can only now think that it was a momentof sheer madness. At the time, however, I just wanted to prove tomyself that I could do it. Standing at the top of the slope, I looked down the40 degree slope with considerable fear mixed with trepidation,mixed with determination and a whole lot of cortisol and adrenalinepumping through my body.I took about 5 minutes to muster up the courage. Tolaunch myself off the edge. It was exhausting, knee jangling, hard concentrateddeliberate movements. Desperately remembering to keep my weightdown the hill and my edges as loose as I dared. Turn after turnafter turn after turn. Around one mogul, push off, turn, shiftweight, edge, again and again and again. Endorphins took over fromthe adrenaline to mask the pain in my legs and screaming lungs. Finally, after what seemed an eternity, I arrived atthe bottom of the slope. My legs like jelly, my heart racing tearsfrom the icy wind streaming down my face. Every fibre of my bodywas pulsing with electricity and sheer, unbounded joy as dopaminefilled my entire being. I was alive, I had done it. I hadn’tfallen. I had conquered the wall. I hadn’t been fast. It hadn’t been elegant. But ithad been me.  FEAR is the #1 issue when it comes to making apersonal breakthrough. FEAR is what you FEEL when your Amygdala (theemotional centre of your brain) considers that there is a threat toyou and signals the production of Cortisol.Cortisol floods your blood stream and informs yourheart to beat faster, your lungs to pump faster, your legs and armsto prepare to run or to fight and since all this demands energy,your digestive system is shut down. What you FEEL is warmer, you’llperspire more due to the energy in your muscles and faster heartbeat. You have “butterflies” in your stomach as the digestive tractis closed for business (heck who needs to digest food if you areabout to be eaten… Only, you are not about to be eaten. It’s highlylikely that you are not about to die, nor about to get injured.The amygdala response is a primitive and essentialtrigger for survival. But it is very poor at distinguishing betweena real threat to life and limb, and one that might possibly hurtyour pride. It’s the same cortisol induced response.Your amygdala is essentially like a sentry guardchecking the external environment and your own thinking process forthe slightest sign of a threat to you. It is a

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