By Jennifer De Azevedo 

One of the biggest obstacles I’ve had to overcome has been learning how to eliminate fear—especially when it came to certain goals. Some goals came easily, but others felt much harder, mostly because they were tied to deep, past hurts. No matter how hard I tried to let the fear go, it had a way of creeping back in.

Eventually, I realized something: in the moments when I had succeeded at achieving my goals, I’d done something very specific with my mind.

Do you remember those 3D “Magic Eye” pictures that were everywhere in the ’90s? At first glance, they just looked like a pixelated mess—a blurry, chaotic block of colors. But if you stared at them long enough (or rather, in the right way), an image would pop out at you from inside. Some people could see it instantly, and others never quite got it.

For me, achieving a goal feels a lot like seeing those 3D pictures. You have to focus without focus. That might sound strange, but here’s what I mean: I would zero in on my goal, get excited about it, and let myself feel happy just thinking about it. That was the easy part—letting my goal fill me with anticipation and joy, like something wonderful was on the way.

The hard part? Everything else happening on the sidelines of life that tries to distract you or plant seeds of doubt. I’d encounter people, situations, or thoughts that seemed to suggest my goal wasn’t going to happen. I’d think, What if I’m just fooling myself? What if I get my hopes up and end up heartbroken? That fear would derail me, and I’d convince myself it was “impossible” after all.

Don’t let that happen.

What helped me push past the fear was this: I learned to “see” my goal by looking past the distractions, just like focusing on the hidden image in those 3D pictures.

If that analogy doesn’t quite click, picture this: you’re in the middle of a football game. The action is happening right in front of you. There’s shouting from the sidelines—people yelling that your ref is awful, someone throwing popcorn, hecklers mocking you or your team—but none of that matters if you stay locked in on the play in front of you.

If you break your concentration and turn toward the noise, you lose the game. But if you keep your eyes on the play, drown out the distractions, and move forward with determination—you win.

That’s what it takes to reach your goal.

Focus on what you want. Let the fear and the doubts fade into the background. At first, your mind might slip back into those old fearful places—but just catch it, gently correct it, and refocus. Keep doing that. It gets easier. Eventually, believing in your goal will feel natural. Your mind will stop feeding the fear, and start trusting the vision.

And when that happens—you’ll see it. Just like the image hidden in the pixels. Just like a win in the final seconds of the game. It was always there, waiting to be revealed.

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