Expect buffeting as you break through barriers

I recently came across a great excerpt from Tom Reilly’s book, Value-Added Selling. He writes about Chuck Yeager’s experience of breaking the sound barrier. This is a great metaphor for dealing with fear and self-limiting beliefs. You may have had a similar experience as you step out of your comfort zone and confront a fear. Things sometimes get very rough and uncomfortable before the break-through and upon transitioning into the new state of increased confidence, ability and skill.
“In his first book, Chuck Yeager described what it was like to break the sound barrier.  He said that at .9 mach (the split second before breaking through the sound barrier) his airplane began to pitch, yaw, and buffet.  It was some of the worst turbulence he had ever experienced.  He felt the shock waves from the sound barrier.  And then a curious thing happened.  The moment he broke the sound barrier the buffeting stopped.  It was some of the smoothest flying he had ever experienced.
What a great metaphor for what happens to people when they decide to blast out of a comfort zone.  When you push through fears and anxiety, you experience the same type of buffeting.  It’s the pull to the familiar, the comfortable, the known.  This is internal buffeting – what you feel on the inside.  And because you’re internally controlled you have a choice for how you would like to use this anxiety.  It can be an inhibiting force that stifles and cripples you.  Or, it can fuel your afterburner to propel you further and faster.  The choice belongs to you.”
What is your “sound barrier”? Perhaps you are on the verge of moving to a new level of performance and achievement. The only thing between you and the new reality may be your stepping up and pushing through the fear to achieve success. Go for it!