3 Ways to Overcome Fear

Fear can dismantle your dreams and worrying can literally suck the life right out of you. Unfortunately, the overwhelming majority of people stay away from what gives them anguish, since it makes them feel bad. This is extremely unfortunate, since most of our greatest desires are on the other side of our fear and self-doubt. 

Try these strategies to banish fear from your life:

1. Investigate the source of your fear. Why do you have fear? Is the source reliable?  More than likely, you’ll find out that the fear is literally in your head and it won’t play out in reality. 
2. Ask, “what’s the worst that can happen?” Take time to visualize the worst possible scenario that could happen.  Literally, sit down, close your eyes, and envision the worst. Ask yourself, “how bad is this fear?” Will you offend someone? Will you lose a client? Will you frustrate a loved one? Most of the time when we dream up the most disastrous scenario possible, we realize that it’s really not that bad. After you think about the worst, try developing a plan that you could put in place to deal with a bad outcome, so you can diminish your fears.  
3. Hit the small fears right away. You’ve heard, “practice makes perfect?” Same is true when it comes to our fears. The more you do that makes you uncomfortable, the more you expand your comfort zone. I often talk about a rubber band in my workshops for an illustration. If you take a rubber band and stretch it as much as possible, it will never go back to its original shape. Same is true with our comfort! If you get used to tackling small fears, you’ll stretch yourself and you’ll be able to handle more challenging situations. It’s like training a muscle in your body; it will get stronger!  

Ask yourself, “how much does fear and self-doubt control my decisions?” Think about everything you desire in life and think about how much fear is holding you back. What could you accomplish from now ‘til the end of the year if you figured out how to handle your fears? Take a moment to look at everything that is causing you to be uncomfortable and freakin’ do them. You’ll notice that these challenges will become a lot easier over time. Once you build momentum conquering your fears, keep going and slay bigger dragons in your life. But first, you need to prove to yourself that you can overcome your self-doubt, so start small. Your goals, dreams, and desires all depend on how quickly you can face your fears, so do it now.