Take a moment and think about what scares you. What is it that fear most?
Maybe you fear stumbling over your lines during a big presentation. Or perhaps you’re afraid of the consequences of failure. You may even be afraid of the responsibility that comes with success.
Whatever the case, I’m certain fear is holding you back in some way. Everyone, and I do mean everyone, fears something. But here is the good news: fear only exists in the mind, and with the right mindset it can be defeated time and time again.
Obviously, there are a few legitimate fears, such as the fear of snakes in my case, but most fears are created between the 6 inches between your ears.
There’s an old saying I’m sure you’ve heard, that says whatever you fear you must face; and for the past few years I’ve done that with great success.
Finding Courage
I have always wanted to share my writing with the world but for much of my life I was afraid of what may result.
What if my writing sucks? What if people judge me? What if I don’t meet my own expectations? What if I’m wasting my time?
For whatever reason, I mustered up the courage to take action, despite the monster fear looking right back at me. What I have found is fear only has power when in your mind. You have the ability to face your fears just as I do, and when you decide to face fear head on, the seemingly insurmountable beast quickly becomes weak and powerless.
Facing my fears has allowed me to share my writing with thousands of people through the medium of blogging.
Facing my fears has allowed me to guest post on dozens of highly recognized blogs.
Facing my fears has allowed me to grow more than I thought possible.
I say not all this to brag but to show that the path of fear is often the path with the heart.
I can honestly say that I was very close to never blogging at all, and now knowing that blogging has been one of the greatest things I’ve ever done; I’m thrilled to know I took the leap. Imagine if I had let my fears swallow me up whole.
What about you? What have you let stopped you from living your dream? It disheartens me to see so many people give up before they even give themselves the chances to get started. I receive people emails all the time asking how I do what I do, but the truth is I’m just an average guy who has refused to let fear beat me you can too.
The Consequences of Fear
When you’re scared you automatically begin to make excuses on why you aren’t capable of doing something. This quite frequently involves needless procrastination and lame excuses for why you can’t reach your goals.But you can’t honestly know what’s possible until you give it your all.
I know facing your fears isn’t always the easiest of tasks. I know uncertainty is scary, and I know that sometimes you will fall on your ass. But the more you fight fear the stronger you become. Sometimes fear may get the best of you, but with the right mindset victory is well within your reach.
Take those dance lessons you’ve been nervous to take. Start that business you’ve always wanted to run. Feel the fear and take the leap anyway? Begin to change the world in ways you never thought possible.
It’s time.
Great article as always Bud!
Taking action to face your fears creates such an amazing feeling; you can at times be left wondering what all the fuss was about.
I believe a problem many can have is taking on other peoples fears, they know someone who is quite vocal about not being able to do something and they begin to fear it themselves.
The people we surround ourselves with can also influence the fears we have.
I’m going to be a father in the next few months and one thing that concerns me is passing on my fears to my children. I need to develop the courage to be a super dad.
Congrats David. I’m sure the act of becoming a dad is very exciting.
Thanks for this post! It’s awesome.
One year ago I was scared to continue running my creative agency, becouse of the responsibility. After all, i’ve faced a fear and now I’m happy, becouse my company grows every day
And it will continue to grow…
Developing the habit of moving toward your fears [*] instead of away from them is a great way to grow as quickly as possible. When you “become comfortable with feeling uncomfortable”, your rate of growth is much greater than when you remain within your comfort zone.
I’m afraid of living in poverty and going broke. That’s one of the reasons why I’m leaving my “safe” job in a couple of days…
[*] Of course I mean irrational fears – most of us have a healthy “fear” of the consequences of jumping off a cliff.
Hey man. Best of luck in your new career situation.
Thanks Bud – I’m looking forward to a big change!
“Worst” case I’ll end up broke and move in with family or friends, having learned a lot about how I operate while self-employed… no failure, only feedback!
Hi Bud,
Very true. I think a big one is the fear of failure. Most never attempt a new challenge for fear of failure. Then there are those that fail after one temporary defeat. Successful achievers know that failure is an oppportunity to correct and re-correct again and again. We gain a sense of self-mastery when we accept fear, not as restrictions and constrictions but as ‘widenings’ and openings. The secret to success is setting up an intelligent relationship with your fears no matter how rough the terrain may be.
We are all glad you got over your fear of sharing your writing, Bud. It is so important for people to share their creativity with the world. I too spent many years unsure about my writing. When I committed to share it with the world it really enabled me to elevate my game. Once we begin to share our authentic expression with the world (be it painting, business or ball-room dancing) it can evolve and progress to new levels. Sharing and expressing ourselves authentically is the greatest contribution we can make to humanity. Thanks for the post.
Great post! I especially like section on “Finding Courage.” For myself and my clients I like to help distinguish the difference between fear and anxiety. Fear is often felt in the present or relived from the past, where anxiety tends to be more focused in the future.
If a person is afraid or anxious about something in the future they are picturing the outcome as something they don’t want to happen.
To help them, I ask them to visualize themselves 15 minutes after the successful completion of the task or event and then ask how they feel.
I then have them “hold on” to that feeling and come back to “now.”
Obviously this is very abbreviated process of what actually happens, but it I hope it provides some assistances to others facing a anxious or fearful situation,
Fear can cripple the mind. Most people fear failure and success. Some fear being alone or not achieving their goals. The fear will continue to exist if you don’t do anything about it.
I’m working through my fears as best as I can. Sometimes it helps to have supportive people around you to help you push through your fears.
Your friends is where it is at
Very nice post Bud. Many times people don’t go after their goals because they are afraid to fail or not do well. Personally, before I started taking singing lessons, I was afraid that I won’t do well, but after I started taking the lessons, my fear began to disappear. One of the best things to do is face your fear. The more one faces his fears, the easier it gets. Thanks for sharing Bud
Hey well written Bud. It’s such a common, probably the most common afflication of ourselves.
I recall a quote:
“Many of us crucify ourselves between two thieves – regret for the past and fear of the future.” -Fulton Oursler
Bud,
Good article. Fear stops us from being who we are, some of the fear are real and others seem real.
Facing fear is best way to deal with it, even though it may seem hard at the first time.
Bud,
Great post! It is so important to get to a point were we can acknowledge and accept the reality of the world, which may include some fear of things we have no control over, and balancing these recognized fears so we can stay still take risks and step outside our comfort zone. Growth definitely comes with facing those situations we are a anxious and worried about. It really can be enlightening to do so and recognize the level of control we actually have.
We live in a world of fear, it’s what keeps millions from doing something different or new each day. Ever seen a middle age man or woman finally conquer a fear, they thought was impossible. There facial expression is usually priceless.
And what happens next?
His or her mind starts to think of more things to conquer and obtain. And there you have it folks…a true human being. Living in the outskirts of his or her mind, because they attempted to do what was first deemed impossible.
I find pairing up with people can make the adventure more fun, help eliminate FUD (fear unknown doubt), and amplify results.
Heya Bud!
Nice article.
Fear came about as a survival mechanism in the days when we still lived in the wild. It kept us cautious and away from poisonous plants and dangerous animals.
Fear has stayed with us until today, and in a way it is still good but in another way it can keep us from going after our dreams and goals. It is important to distinguish if your fear is good for your or bad.
yes bud its not easy but the price of not facing fear is living below one’s true potential, thanks for sharing
Never, for the life of you, be afraid of failure. If you are, you won’t get anywhere. That is something I feared a couple years back. I learned my mistake and am now enjoying failure (sarcasm
).
Great post!