You probably know this feeling.

You tell yourself, “I shouldn’t be this afraid. I know what’s happening.”
Yet when the moment comes, you freeze, hesitate, or pull back — almost automatically.

It’s confusing because you’re not lacking insight. You want to move, but something inside you won’t.

I saw this recently in a coaching conversation. The client understood his fear completely — he knew it wasn’t a real threat. He could name the needs beneath it, and he wanted to trust himself more. He understood the fear — but he still couldn’t move forward.

Most of us think that once we understand a fear, change should follow.
But the mind works differently.

It holds on to whatever once made you feel safe, even when those old patterns no longer fit. That fear you’re trying to silence may actually be protecting something deeper — your identity, your worth, or expectations you’ve carried for years.

When you see it this way, the question shifts from:

“How do I get rid of this fear?” to “What is my mind protecting?”

This opens a different kind of clarity.

You begin to notice how your mind shields you — steering you toward familiar responses, or pulling you back the moment change feels too exposed.
Not because you’re weak, but because your mind believes caution is safer.

This is the part of growth most people never explore.

Reflective learning isn’t automatic.
It asks us to pause long enough to see the protection beneath the fear — and why letting go feels risky, even when we genuinely want change.

And this brings us to an essential question, especially in a world where AI can now imitate techniques and structured conversations:

Can we work with the inner world — with enough depth and presence — to reach the place where real change begins?

This is the turning point for anyone who helps others grow.

If you want people to move — whether as a coach, a leader, or simply someone who cares — you need to understand what their mind is guarding. Not to push past their fear, but to reveal the reason it holds them in place.

This is the heart of the Transformational Approach at Coach Masters Academy.

It teaches you to recognise the moment when the mind protects — and to work with that moment in a way that creates genuine clarity and lasting self-trust.

If this resonates with you and you’d like to explore what this reveals about the mind and the nature of change, you can read the expanded article by Dr Ben Koh on The Protect Mind.

Sometimes change begins in the moment you finally see that your fear has been trying to protect something important to you. “Change Gives Us Strength” (lyric by Dr Ben Koh) was a reminder that even small, honest recognitions can grow into strength and courage you can carry into what comes next.

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