Five Ways to Overcome Fear

fearFear does not stop death…it stops life

Are you ever paralyzed by fear? I know I have been fearful enough over a goal, a relationship or a situation to stop in my tracks and do nothing.

If we can learn to deal with fear and overcome it, then we can make progress on our goals and create deeper relationships with people.

Here are a few thoughts about fear that can help us move forward instead of standing still:

FEAR Means False Evidence Appearing Real

Although our fear instinct can save our lives, that situation is rare. Most of the time when we are fearful, we are afraid of something that is really an illusion. If we can recognize that 95 percent of what we fear is an illusion that we create, then we can move forward to take action.

Take the First Step

The first action to take is to choose to make the first step. When we take action, we immediately become more confident and each successive step becomes easier. When we take the first step we are staring fear down removing its impact on us.

Ask and Write “What is the Worst That Can Happen?”

When we ask this question, we become aware of the downside and we are again staring fear down. Once we know the downside it will have less impact on us because it is out on the table in writing in front of us.

Also, when we write down the worst that can happen our minds can begin to wrap our heads around the worst and can begin to figure how to mitigate any obstacle.

Shift Your Focus

Instead of focusing on you and your fear, focus on the goal, the circumstance or the person of which you are afraid. When we take our eyes off ourselves, we become less fearful because we are not thinking about our fear but how we can be successful.

Depending on the situation, figure out how you can serve the other person to take your focus off yourself.

Accept that You Will Be Fearful

If we accept that we will have fear and it is a natural part of life, then we can move on and take action. Fear will always be with us and when we recognize it we can endure it with courage. We will not get rid of fear but accepting it will make it that much easier to take the first step.

It is challenging to overcome fear but there are several ways to think about fear in order to overcome it and move forward in life. What are some of the ways you have dealt with fear in order to make progress?