Susan Jeffers (1938–2012,) née Gildenberg, was an American psychologist. The author of Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway and other popular self-help literature, she was also a sought-after public speaker.
Born to a Jewish family in Hazleton, Pennsylvania, Jeffers got a bachelor’s degree from Hunter College in New York City, and a master’s and a doctorate in psychology from Columbia University.
Jeffers is well known for her first self-help book, Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway (1987; revised 2006.) Initially rejected by several publishers, it sold some 15 million copies in 100 countries and was translated into more than 35 languages. Jeffers also established a thriving training and consulting business, recruiting hundreds of accredited trainers all over the world.
Jeffers wrote 17 other self-help books, including End the Struggle and Dance with Life (1996,) I’m Okay, You’re a Brat! (2001,) and Embracing Uncertainty (2003.)
More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by Susan Jeffers
She knows the answer to her question “what if?” The answer is: “I’ll handle it!”
—Susan Jeffers
Topics: Fear, Feel, Now
You can actually shift your thinking in such a way as to make a wrong decision or mistake an impossibility.
—Susan Jeffers
Topics: Thinking, Feel, Fear, Mistake, Think, Act, Decision
If you’ve truly committed yourself to something, given it all you’ve got, and then concluded that it is not for you—move on to something else.
—Susan Jeffers
Topics: Give, Fear, Feel
I am talking about the power within the self. This means power over your perceptions of the world, power over how you react to situations in your life, power to do what is necessary for your own self-growth, power to create joy and satisfaction in your life, power to act, and power to love.
—Susan Jeffers
Topics: Act, Power, Love, Fear, World, Action, Perception, Create, Feel, Joy, Life, Growth
Fear of particular situations dissolved when I finally confronted them. The “doing it” comes before the fear goes away.
—Susan Jeffers
Topics: Doing, Fear, Feel
All you have to do to change your world is change the way you think about it.
—Susan Jeffers
Topics: World, Change, Feel, Fear, Think
When a difficult situation comes into your life, it is possible to tune in to your mind and say, “Okay, choose”. Are you going to make yourself miserable or content? Are you going to visualize scarcity or abundance? Are you going to put yourself down for getting angry with your husband or are you simply going to notice what insecurity you were feeling at the time and discuss it with him? The choice is definitely yours. Pick the one that contributes most to your aliveness and growth.
—Susan Jeffers
Topics: Live, Mind, Dance, Choice, Time, Abundance, Fear, Life, Security, Feel, Growth
The knowledge that you can handle anything that comes your way is the key to allowing yourself to take healthy, life-affirming risks.
—Susan Jeffers
Topics: Fear, Risk, Knowledge, Win, Now, Life, Feel, Health
So, instead of wanting to throttle your loved ones when they give you a hard time, it is better to look at them as mirrors of what you still need to work on in terms of our personal growth.
—Susan Jeffers
Topics: Better, Growth, Time, Persona, Love, Feel, Give, Work, Fear
I had to shift from being afraid of making a mistake to being afraid of not making a mistake.
—Susan Jeffers
Topics: Fear, Feel, Mistake
Commitment doesn’t mean that it has to last forever, but while you are there, commit yourself 100%. By doing this, the quality of your life improves 100%.
—Susan Jeffers
Topics: Commitment, Fear, Feel, Doing, Life
When you operate from the Higher Self, you feel centered and abundant—in fact, overflowing. When you experience this abundance, your fears automatically disappear.
—Susan Jeffers
Topics: Abundance, Act, Feel, Fear, Win, Dance, Experience
We have been taught to believe that negative equals realistic and positive equals unrealistic.
—Susan Jeffers
You are innately designed to use your personal power. When you don’t, you experience a sense of helplessness, paralysis, and depression—which is your clue that something is not working as it could. You, like all of us, deserve everything that is wonderful and exciting in life. And those feelings emerge only when you get in touch with your powerful self.
—Susan Jeffers
Topics: Feel, Power, Persona, Work, Fear, Life, Feelings, Experience, Depression
You can drop an awful lot of excess baggage if you learn to play with life instead of fight it.
—Susan Jeffers
Topics: Feel, Life, Fear, Age, Learn
If we do not consciously and consistently focus on the spiritual part of ourselves, we will never experience the kind of joy, satisfaction, safety, and connectedness we are all seeking.
—Susan Jeffers
Topics: Feel, Act, Experience, Action, Kind, Will, Joy, Fear, Spirit, Focus, Spiritual
I know I’ll handle it. I have nothing to worry about.
—Susan Jeffers
Topics: Now, Fear, Worry, Feel
It is fairly predictable, however, that when you’ve finally mastered something and gotten rid of the fear, you will feel so good that you will decide that there is something else out there you want to accomplish, and guess what! The fear begins again as you prepare to meet a new challenge.
—Susan Jeffers
Topics: Feel, Good, New, Fear, Will, Master, Decide
It is amazingly empowering to have the support of a strong, motivated, and inspirational group of people.
—Susan Jeffers
Topics: Inspirational, Fear, Feel, People, Power, Support, Inspiration
Taking responsibility means never blaming anyone else for anything you are being, doing, having, or feeling.
—Susan Jeffers
Topics: Fear, Responsibility, Feel, Doing
Every time you encounter something that forces you to “handle it,” your self-esteem is raised considerably. You learn to trust that you will survive, no matter what happens. And in this way your fears are diminished immeasurably.
—Susan Jeffers
Topics: Time, Will, Feel, Fear, Trust, Learn
As far as I know, everyone feels fear as he or she moves forward through life. It is absolutely possible that there are some evolved souls in this world who never experience fear, but I have not met them.
—Susan Jeffers
Topics: Life, Soul, Experience, Fear, Now, Feel, World, War
What we resist persists.
—Susan Jeffers
Topics: Feel, Fear
If you listen to the Chatterbox, your experience of life is fear-producing, and you stop yourself from expanding. If you listen to the Higher Self, your experience of life is joyful and abundant and devoid of fear. You, like everyone else, are an expert at listening to your Chatterbox. Your task is now to become an expert at listening to your Higher Self. Then true choice will be possible.
—Susan Jeffers
Topics: Will, Become, Choice, Life, Now, Fear, Experience, Feel, Joy
When you give your subsconscious the message “I can’t,” your subconscious really believes you and registers on its computer: WEAK… WEAK… WEAK…
—Susan Jeffers
Topics: Give, Feel, Age, Fear, Believe
Awareness is half the battle.
—Susan Jeffers
Topics: Awareness, War, Feel, Fear
Most of us do not “sculpt” our lives. We accept what comes our way…then we gripe about it.
—Susan Jeffers
Topics: Feel, Fear, Live
You must become what you want to attract. Be the kind of person you would want to surround yourself with.
—Susan Jeffers
Topics: Become, Kind, Feel, Act, Fear
Whether it feels like it or not, you already have more power than you could ever have imagined. We all have.
—Susan Jeffers
Topics: Fear, Power, Feel
You don’t become powerful without concentrating your power.
—Susan Jeffers
Topics: Power, Fear, Become, Feel
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