Episode 9: Stop Letting Fear Lie to You. Take Your Power Back.

What would your life look like if fear no longer controlled your decisions?

In this powerful solo episode of Navigating Leaders, Gabriel Greiss explores the true nature of fear: what it is, where it comes from, and how it quietly limits the life you were designed to live. 

From childhood conditioning to adult patterns of safety and control, Gabriel reveals how fear often shows up as stories we tell ourselves: I’m not enough. I don’t have what it takes. I might fail.

But here’s the truth: fear is often nothing more than False Evidence Appearing Real.

Through personal stories, leadership insight, and practical reflection, Gabriel explains how fear is learned, how it becomes embedded in identity, and how awareness gives you the power to choose differently. He reminds listeners that babies and young children live boldly, relentlessly pursuing growth without fear of failure and challenges us to reconnect with that same courageous spirit.

This episode also explores:

• Why fear is often learned, not inherent
• How fear keeps you playing small and living safely instead of fully
• The difference between reacting automatically and responding intentionally
• How comparison and self-doubt reinforce fear
• Why vision is the most powerful antidote to fear
• How living from purpose shrinks fear’s influence

Gabriel invites you to examine your fears honestly and reconnect with a vision so meaningful that it outweighs the stories holding you back.

Because when your vision is clear and compelling, fear loses its power.

You don’t eliminate fear by waiting.

You overcome fear by choosing to live boldly, one intentional step at a time.

RESOURCES

• Website:.navigatingleaders.com 
• The Results Tree (Available April 7): https://shop.harpandswordmedia.com/products/the-results-tree 

CONNECT WITH GABRIEL

🎥 YouTube: @navigatingleaders
📸 Instagram: @navigatingleaders

👍 Facebook: @navigatingleaders

🎵 TikTok: @navigatingleaders

🗣️ LinkedIn: @navigatingleaders

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ABOUT GABRIEL

Gabriel Griess is a retired US Air Force officer, the CEO of Excel Medical Staffing and MedForceX, and the founder of Navigating Leaders. A graduate of the elite Air Force Weapons School, he has spent decades leading teams in high-pressure environments and equipping others to reach their full potential. As a combat veteran and an entrepreneur, Gabriel helps individuals cultivate self-awareness, resilience, and the ability to create lasting impact.

An internationally sought-after keynote speaker, he addresses audiences on personal transformation, strategic leadership, and veteran empowerment. The Results Tree is the framework he lives by, and when applied, it will unearth your destiny.

Transcript

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Don't blink. Breathe. Fail. Die. What on earth does that mean? Well, we think about a kid, a baby being born, right? They come out, the doctor swats them on the bum, and they take a breath, they breathe. We spend the rest of our existence failing one thing after another, and then we die. It's natural. It's who we be. Yet somewhere along the way, fear shows its head, shows up, and begins having us lead smaller and smaller and smaller lives than what we are intended to be. My name is Gabriel Grease, host of Navigating Leaders, where you awaken your vision and live boldly. Today we're going to talk about fear. So, what is fear, right? Like, fear is as varied as people are themselves, right? We can all have different fears. And sometimes people have a phobia or a fear, and you're like, I can totally do that. Yet if somebody did something else to you, you'd be like, oh, that freaks me out, right? So like think about it. Some people are afraid of heights, other people skydive. Some people are afraid of reptiles. People love to go into the jungle, right? There's a fear for everything, right? It's so funny to see a new word made of some phobia, and you're like, gosh, really? That's that's a fear? Who knew? Right? Well, why are we afraid and where did all this come from? Well, when you think about it, right? Fear is a limitation. Fear is false evidence appearing real. False evidence appearing real. So I'm taking something that isn't true, I'm telling a story and building it into something, then I'm believing that story is truth because now I think it's real. When in reality, it's not. It's all a fiction of my imagination. So what are the fears, right? I fear failure, fear of control, fear that I don't have enough money or information or network or resources. Like we create all these things, right? I'm unworthy, I'm no good. I tried this before and I failed. Maybe I'll be rejected. And potentially the worst of all is maybe I'll settle here for something that's safe. But all of that sucks the life, the joy, the passion, the adventure out of the journey, out of everyday living. So when we think about babies, right? So we started there, the breathe, right? Breathe. Uh they are just amazing, right? Um they they are tenacious, they know no bounds, they see things in the world and are like, I can do that. Let me let me continue to to try and try and try. In fact, there was this time when uh new father, first-time father, uh, my son Preston's probably, I don't know, 10 months old, maybe. And and I'm sitting on the floor and I've got a little toy here, and and he kind of crawls towards a toy, and then I grab the toy and I move it and I set it on the other side. So then he crawls across my legs and goes to get the toy, and about the time he gets it, I pick it up and move it. And we must have done this for, I don't know, 30, 45 minutes. I just kept moving the toy and he just kept crawling. He didn't get frustrated, he didn't get mad, he didn't look at me like, why are you doing this to me? He didn't be like, oh, I'm a victim of this oppression, like none of that, right? He just kept crawling and kept crawling and kept crawling to the point of exhaustion, to the point where he falls asleep. He worked so hard, so committed to chasing the dream of catching this toy that he put himself to sleep. So, when was the last time you were so exhausted? You'd worked so hard, you'd poured yourself so much into your day, the event, the effort, that you just collapsed out of exhaustion. And I know personally for me, that's not an everyday occurrence, right? Some days I come home from work and I'm pretty drained, uh, but other days, not so much exhaustion. I play hard, I play full out, certainly. But am I exhausted? Uh maybe not. And I think one of the things about babies that's so amazing is they're continually in search. They're continually striving, right? Once I learn to stand, I want to walk. Once I learn to walk, I want to take multiple steps. Once I learn how to do multiple steps, I want to run, right? And so everything is new, everything is continuing to evolve. And they don't have this, I don't know how to say it, right? They don't have this sense that they've got it, that they get their hands around it, right? Like right now, I'm holding the coffee cup tight in my hand. I got it. And once we've got something, it sort of loses its luster and loses its passion, right? So when was the last time you were truly exhausted after a day? Right? Babies do it day after day after day, but as we move into our young adult and teen and certainly adult years, um, not so much exhaustion from playing full out, right? I might be worn out, I might be exhausted because of the world around me, I may have given away my power and may be a victim to what's around me, but am I really playing full out to the point that I just have to lay my head on a pillow? And for me, those are few and far between. I don't know about you, but something to look at. And I think part of it is that we're as we as we get older, we think we've got something. Like we hold it in our hands, we hold it tightly, like I'm holding this coffee cup, like I got it, and I'm never letting it go. But the moment I put my hands around it, especially when it's a feeling or a thing, or I define it, it loses its essence, it loses its power. And so as we step into this environment of fear, when does it get its hands on us? Right? When does it get to wrap itself around us and begin to constrain us and keep us from living the largest, fullest, most grand version of ourselves? And I think it's somewhere usually between about eight and eighteen. Right? As we start to emerge into, you know, third, fourth, fifth grade, we're starting to view the world around us and beginning to have a character that we're cast in, and we have an image and we have friendships and we have relationships we want to protect, and we begin to see the influence everybody and everything around us has on our lives. And that's scary because what if they take from me? What if they, what if they look down on me? What if they say bad things about me? What if they uh don't accept me or I'm unworthy or I'm cast out or cast aside, right? Like all this stuff is real. And um, and I'm sure you at times in your life have experienced this uh and maybe you're continuing to experience it today. And so we begin to limit ourselves, right? Because if I play smaller and smaller and smaller, then I'm in an environment I know that I can control, air quotes. Uh, there is no such thing as control, it's just a myth we tell ourselves, right? But if I if I make my day routine and make it show up similar to yesterday, then I have some level of belief predictability that, hey, it's it's gonna be safe, I'm gonna be secure, I'm gonna be okay, it's gonna look a lot like yesterday, which is good because I won't be surprised because I don't want to handle surprises, right? But when you when if that sounds familiar, if you look at that and then you you step back a little bit, you think, but is that how I was designed to live? Is that how I'm designed to live today? It's certainly not who I was when I was that toddler learning to do everything that I learned to do. Right? Imagine how far we'd walk or run if we're like, hmm, I wonder if somebody's gonna judge me for falling down on or on my bum bum, right? Thank goodness diapers are padded, right? Protect that bum. And so as we as we move into adulthood, right, we then can begin to compensate, right? I can begin to be like, I'm very macho or have bravado, or I'm really great and bold in this area of my life, right? And we kind of talked about this in a in a previous episode, right? Where I'm I'm willing to take adventurous actions outside physical, daring type things. But then we talked about me not wanting to uh ask or to speak vulnerably to my wife about what would be meaningful and fulfilling to me. So I'm bold in one area, but scared or afraid or plain safe or small or a coward, maybe even in another area in my life. And so considered Instagram worthy, like look over here, this is all great, but let's not talk about the stuff that's behind us or off camera. And so we get to learn to be bold and take action across all the domains in our life, right? So the first thing I want to share with you in this space is it's okay, you're safe, you're not wrong, right? You were living your human experience, and and by golly, uh it's a challenging one, right? It's it's a miracle some days we wake up where we're at. Like you have worked hard, you have survived, you have struggled, you have persevered, you have overcome so many things. And oftentimes in that space, we will choose to compare ourselves, right? And Teddy Roosevelt would tell you that comparison is the thief of joy, right? And so if I'm comparing my struggle to somebody with greater struggles, then I minimize. I'd be like, oh no, this isn't that big, it's not that bad a deal, right? But but it's true for me and it's true for you. And so it gets to be honored. Same thing with accomplishments, right? Oh, my accomplishment isn't that much. Look at how great somebody else is. Or I could try and boast of my accomplishments or make others feel small, right? Again, in a space of comparison, the thief of joy. And so living full out today in my purpose, in my passion, from my vision, right? Creating clear intentions and taking committed actions to achieve the results that I want in my life, allow me to overcome fear. So one of the elements we have uh in our book we have coming out, the results tree, which is over there on the uh over there on the table, super cool. Um it's got a clear pathway, right, to to creating a vision and the results you want. But one of the lines in the book that a friend of mine pointed out to me was that your vision gets to be so big, it's worth dying for. Right? Your vision for your life gets to be so big it's worth dying for. And what I'll tell you is that when that vision stacks up against false evidence appearing real, now you have a fighting chance. Now you have a fighting chance for that vision, that purpose, that that singular reason you're here, you and your unique life are here, can overcome the fear. And now you can live in an outward-focused and bold place, right? Well, why do I need to be bold? Why do I need to stretch? Why do I need to get out there? Well, the answer is growth only happens when we're uncomfortable. We must be out of our comfort zone in order to grow, right? If we think about trees grow that way, muscles in our body grow, right? We've got to stretch them and strain them and under under weight and strain in order for them to come back and grow, right? When you're a young adult and you grow overnight, sometimes a half an inch or an inch, it seems like, right? I remember waking up with pains in my knees, right? Growth and pain. And so discomfort goes hand in hand with growth. Think back to Preston and the baby crawling, exhausted, right? Discomfort, growth. And so when we put ourselves out there, when I put myself out there, when you put yourself out there and you get uncomfortable and you grow, you put your head on the pillow and you rest in a way that is peaceful. Because you did it all, you did your best, you showed up, you got in the arena. So fear is an absolute thief. So where do our fears come from? Right? Like, okay, great game. We'll acknowledge what you've said so far, maybe. But where do the fears come from? And I think this is super, super interesting, right? So uh my wife Christy and I absolutely don't like snakes, right? In fact, the other day we were at the lake and I laugh now because we're safe, but Christy's going up the stairs and like she's halfway up an eye level. There's a I mean there's a snake coiled up that's easily the size of a basketball hoop around, right? And the snake's probably not quite as big around as this coffee cup, but a big, like a big snake. And of course, it's laying on a step in the sun as she's going up the stairs, so she goes eyeball to eyeball with this snake and screams and comes running back down the stairs, right? Well, now the snake, this big, huge snake, is on the steps and it's between the family and the house. And uh, so then we're like, now what are we gonna do? And so we get out bug spray, we've got sticks, we're poking, but we're doing all this stuff to get the thing to move, and finally it does move, which is great, and we're able to go past and use the stairs. But the interesting piece about this is our son Harrison loves snakes and reptiles, so he'll capture anything with his bare hands and look at it and play with it. And so those fears are learned. Luckily, we are very intentional about not passing our fear of reptiles on to our son, son Harrison. But somewhere we were taught, I remember actually my grandmother, Erna, uh big gardener, she would she'd see a snake in her garden and go get the hose, the hoe, and she would chase a snake through the garden until she could cut it up into little pieces, right? Like snakes were not something to be trusted or or whatever. And now I'm wiser and no, and they're part of the ecosystem and they have a role, and and that's great. But you know, along the way I learned to be scared of snakes, as did my wife. Yet our son isn't, right? And so it's really amazing to stop for a moment and notice when I'm fearful. And then, with that awareness, then to look into well, where did it come from? And do I truly believe or own this fear? And is it something I can choose differently into? Right? So most fears we react, right? Boom, I see something. Somebody spooks me, a snake shows up, there's a loud noise, there's a flash of light, um, somebody coughs, uh, you know, whatever it is that triggers a fear in me, um, it isn't necessarily a rational response, right? It is a reaction. Boom, it happens, it comes out of me. And so an opportunity exists in this moment that when I'm triggered or when I'm reactive, I can pause for a moment and go, look, hey, I just I just responded or not responded, I just reacted in a way that I don't know if that's the way I want to be. And so now I can, with that awareness, choose to say, is there a different way I want to be? Do I want to instead of react, do I want to respond? Right? Respond has a root word response or responsibility from it. And so now I have this opportunity to choose a way of being around a situation differently than uh whatever my reaction would be, right? So I'm aware of it. I had that awareness allows me to become intentional, to shift into a place of responsibility, and I can choose and act differently, right? And then in that moment, I then get to check in with the results as I've applied this new response or responsibility to what I was once fearful of. I can maybe begin to bring the fear, the resistance, the uh unplanned control that may have over me down, right? I can begin to take control back and to minimize that which I was experiencing. All right. So it's really cool because in all of this, this is the journey, right? Each and every day we wake up new. Each and every day something is different. And so no day can be the same as another one, right? We cannot repeat a day if we tried. We cannot repeat a conversation or an embrace or a meal. Like it is always new and becoming new again because I am different, because you were different in that moment, right? And so as I get to grow, right, I get to take back my power, right? I get to apply my vision. That thing is so bold and so big, so worth dying for, that my fears now get to shrink. They get to become smaller. But I first have to have that awareness in order to take them smaller, right? So we started with fear, false evidence appearing real. Those fears can be I'm not enough, I'm not worthy, I'm not smart enough, I don't have the resources, the network, the background, I'm too old, I'm too young, I'm too big, I'm too small, pick it. All of them are excuses for keeping yourself small. And here's the truth if you tell yourself you can, you're right. If you tell yourself you can't, you're also right. So the invitation is to choose can, to choose awareness, to choose response and responsibility, to choose to minimize your fears by choosing and living from a vision that is worth dying for. And so that's your invitation, right? Connect with your vision. You can go to navigatingleaders.com. We've got a vision engine there that can help you establish and grow and dig into your vision, begin to work on that. And from there, everything else opens up. So we're so excited for you to join us here on Navigating Leaders Podcast, where you awaken your vision and you learn to live boldly. It would be an honor for you to share this with your friends and family, to continue to grow the community, continue to engage in the community with posts, likes, and shares, and to come back next week for the next edition of the Navigating Leaders Podcast. Thank you and God bless.