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This is an ongoing series. To read Part 1 & Part 2 click here  .

I have nicknamed these internal forces as “Demons”. I am not the first to use this nickname but it does seem fitting so I will perpetuate the use.

The internal forces are simply blocks that we place on ourselves. There are many reasons we place these blocks on ourselves but the main one is “FEAR”.

Fear is different to each of us. I ran around Navy Aircraft on Carriers and on land and rarely was scared in any situation yet, when I call someone on the phone for the first time I get butterflies in my stomach.

So why does a dangerous situation not effect me but a simple phone call does? I don’t know for sure. What I do know is that fear of the phone call could keep me from succeeding. So I typically force myself to make the call. Once the phone is picked up and I get a word or two into the conversation my fear goes away, but what causes this in the first place.

There are other internal forces such as frustration and lack of knowledge. These forces seem to be simpler to overcome with training and experience. Some of the problem refers back to fear. We tend to fear what we don’t know. Not knowing for certain the outcome of a situation can cause fear or stress.

All the practice in the world can prepare you for a performance, speech, sport competition and so forth but we know there is that possibility that we will make a mistake and embarrass ourselves or possibly lose a business deal.

I deal with the frustration aspect most everyday. Being a Technical Integrator I have to be part technician/engineer, instructional designer, graphic media developer, writer and web developer.

Trying to get the graphic artist to understand the inner working of a technical piece of equipment they have never seen is usually very frustrating and mistakes are made. Then corrections have to be made and that takes time and if its not handled right the graphic artist may even get so frustrated that person will quit. I then do the same for all the other players in developing training as well.

I will examine these internal forces in great detail in coming articles. What I would request of you is to start naming your “Demons” and write out a list of them as you think about them. This is one of the ways the military dehumanizes the enemy.

Derogatory nicknames make the enemy easier to kill. You are not killing a person you are killing a (fill in your own thought)! While I am definitely not condoning you go kill anyone, I do believe that using the nickname game on your internal blockers well help you minimize their influence and allow you to push through the blockage!