FACE YOUR FEARS
Why address this issue? Because in my opinion, it’s one of the biggest barriers that a person faces to achieve their goals and reach their dreams.
Fear is an emotion that can protect us from real danger, but in most cases fear lives in the future and is created by our minds. This emotion paralyzes us and leads us to inaction.
There are many types of fears that limit us (fear of being different, being single, not being accepted, fear of job change, fear of saying things, etc.) but if they are analyzed in depth, they can be included within the fear of loss and fear of failure. In any case, these fears detract from our lives and solutions must be put in place.
5 keys to face fears:
1- Recognize fear and accept it. Ignoring it will only make it stronger and generate a feeling of frustration in you for not trying to manage it. Taking it out, examining it in detail and identifying where it comes from is the key to knowing whether you control it or it controls you.
Ask yourself: What exactly am I afraid of and for what reason?
2- Imagine yourself in the worst situation and briefly write down how you would face it.
Is it a founded or unfounded fear?
What is the worst thing that can happen if you start?
How could you prevent that from happening?
What if you change you job?
What if they say no to a proposal in a meeting?
What happens if you’re not accepted in the group?
What if you say NO?
Each time these kind of questions come to you, repeat the following statement to yourself several times with your eyes closed: “I can face it.” At the same time, visualize that you manage to overcome it and perceive how you feel and the emotion that comes to you.
Our outer reality is a direct reflection of our thoughts and beliefs. By changing our thoughts, we change our reality.
3- Dare! Feel the fear and act anyway!
Write down on a paper those opportunities you gain by facing fear and what you lose if you don’t try. You will realize that not trying only leads to increased fear and the courage to challenge yourself becomes less and less.
A simple exercise would be to choose one of the fears that isn’t very complicated and invent feasible tasks to perform.
What three actions could you do to deal with that level of fear that prevents you from moving forward? When are you going to start?
Sometimes not acting has a higher price than acting.
4- Live in the “Here and Now”. We are too concerned with the “what if I fail” “what if they leave me and I am left alone”, “what if they reject me for being different” … In most cases these thoughts are projected into the future. When you live in the present, you take away the strength of fear, which is the uncertainty that can happen.
Sometimes we have anchors from the past that make us have limiting patterns of behavior in the present for fear that the same thing will happen to us. Free yourself from your past and live in the moment! How? The simple awareness of the moment, the breathing and the recognition of your thoughts will help you to be more present.
5-Positive attitude: “I can’t do it” generates blockade and inaction to face the situation. It’s important to have a type of energy that helps you move toward action.
Change the: “I cannot”, “it is impossible”, for: “I want”, “I can”, “I am capable”.
Are you going to choose YES or NO? Choosing YES is winning the battle against your doubts and fears. If you take action, fear evaporates and generates the confidence that you are in charge of your life, you are the protagonist.
Conclusion:
Every step we take forward means having to take a certain risk that creates fear. With greater steps, greater risks. If in these moments you feel that you’re afraid, it’s because you are on the right track, you are mobilizing towards action.
Fear is in your day-to-day and it depends on you whether it’s your ally or your enemy
Phrases:
“The brave man is not the one who does not feel fear, but the one who conquers fear”, Nelson Mandela
“How many things do we lose for fear of losing”, Paulo Coelho
“Nothing binds you except your thoughts. Nothing limits you except your fear. Nothing controls you except your beliefs “, Marianne Williamson
“The only thing we have to be afraid of is fear itself”, Franklin D. Rooselvelt