Do you struggle to overcome your fears? Are there any specific fears that are currently holding you back? What are you unable to do because of these fears? Are they preventing you from achieving your most important life goals? We all of course experience fear. Fear is a natural human response to danger. It serves to protect us from harm. However, most of the fears we experience are quite irrational. These are not life threatening fears, but rather egocentric fears that protect the ego from harm. The fear of rejection, criticism, failure, and success all originate from within our imaginations. And to eliminate fear, this is precisely where we must go.
1) ACKNOWLEDGE YOUR FEAR
The first step to overcoming fear is to take the time to acknowledge that you are actually feeling afraid. Your ego may of course struggle with this. It doesn’t want to admit its weaknesses and vulnerabilities. However, admitting to your struggles kind of releases you from the burden of holding onto that fear. Your fear subsequently turns into a problem that you can now progressively work through. Acknowledging your fear also paves the way forward. However, in order to move forward you must find reasons to do so. Ask yourself why it’s important to overcome this fear and how that could help improve your life.
2) IMAGINE HAVING NO FEAR
Fear originates from within the imagination. It evolves from the way we imagine our circumstances. In other words, it manifests from the interpretations we make about how something appears to be. Given this, it just makes sense that in order to eliminate fear, we must start involving our imagination. With this in mind, consider for a moment what your life would be like if you no longer had to deal with this fear. What would you be able to do and achieve as a result? How would you live your life? How would things be different than what they are today? What would be possible? And, how does all that make you feel?
3) IDENTIFY TRIGGERS
Now that you have put yourself into a more positive state-of-mind, it’s time to progressively start working through your fear. To begin with, consider for a moment when exactly you experience this fear. When does this fear appear? Under what conditions or circumstances? What thoughts do you have on your mind? What emotions are you experiencing? What is happening around you? What is it that triggers your fear? Or in other words, what needs to happen for you to actually feel afraid in that particular situation? Understanding the evolution and origins of your fear will help you to better comprehend the nature of what you’re dealing with.
4) ASSESS YOUR DEGREE OF CONTROL
When it comes to fear, there’s always the question of control. How much control do we actually have over our fear? Is there some level of control, or are things completely out of our hands? It’s very possible you are afraid because you’re struggling with self-doubt. You’re not quite sure what will happen, and you subsequently fear the worst. This creates a lot of uncertainty, which subsequently scares you. You worry about all the things that you’re unable to control, when instead you should be thinking about where this control actually lies. It of course lies within you. You have full control over how you choose to respond to this situation.
5) ANALYZE POTENTIAL OBSTACLES
Now that you feel more in control of how you respond to fear, it’s time to start thinking more resourcefully about your predicament. There is of course this big fear that’s no longer a fear, but rather a problem that must be dealt with. Every problem of course comes with a set of obstacles that must be overcome. Overcoming these obstacles will however require resources. Resources come in the form of your knowledge, strengths, skills and the support you can muster. With this in mind, first identify the obstacles that might prevent you from moving forward, then list down how you could use your resources to successfully overcome this fear.
6) GET CREATIVE
You should by this stage have a clear action plan in place to help you work through your fear. However, your plan may not be foolproof, and as such there may still be some doubts and uncertainties lingering on the horizon. If this is true for you, then it’s time to get a little creative. Consider for a moment all the options you have for overcoming this fear. What could you do? How would you do these things? Now, switch your persona. Imagine you’re Bugs Bunny, or maybe a scientist, or possibly a secret agent, an entrepreneur, or even Harry Potter. How would you work through your fear as one of these characters? What ideas come to mind?
CONCLUDING THOUGHTS
So there you have it. Those are the six steps you need to take to eliminate fear. But do they actually work? Will following these steps help you to eliminate fear? The short answer is, yes they will work, but to a certain extent. The truth is that you might never entirely eliminate fear. To eliminate fear completely, takes a lot of repetition, exposure and conditioning. Moreover, it requires fully detaching yourself emotionally from the outcome.
As long as uncertainty exists, there will always be room for fear. However, a little fear can easily be channeled into excitement. And when we’re excited, it’s far easier to muster up the courage to take proactive action toward our desired objectives.
In the end it all comes down to perspective. If you interpret your experience of fear in a helpful way, it won’t become so overwhelming, and you will subsequently work through it far more quickly and effectively. And of course perspective always begins with how we choose to see things and the stories we tell ourselves about those circumstances. Change those stories, and you can very quickly change your life.
Imagine for a moment you could develop new habits and methods of thinking where you naturally and effortlessly adopt these ideas into your life. How would that make you feel? Would you feel more fulfilled, empowered and in control?
Yes, there is such simplicity within this IQ Doodle, but of course there is a reason for that. Making positive change doesn’t need to be a complicated process. It just needs to be a consistent process where we progressively develop new habits-of-mind through repeated exposure and implementation. And that’s what these IQ Doodles are for.
We have prepared for you an IQ Doodle pack that includes several variations of this IQ Doodle that you can use for guidance and inspiration throughout the day. Use it consistently and you will begin making positive changes in the way you live, work and interact with others.
Visit the IQ Doodle Store to learn more about how to use this IQ Doodle and begin optimizing the way you live your life today.
Learn More About this Topic
Want to know more about this topic? Here are some helpful links to articles that you may find of value:
- 4 Mental Tricks to Conquer Fear @ Inc.
- 5 Steps to Overcome Fear and Meet Your Goals @ Tiny Buddha
- How to Eliminate the Fear that Holds You Back in Life @ IQ Matrix
- How to Overcome the Fear of Failure @ Mind Tools
- The Science of Conquering Your Fears and Living a More Courageous Life @ Huffington Post