From Being Fearful To Fearless

Okay, I admit it, I have arachnophobia. I can't stand spiders, well at least huntsmen anyway. They fill me up with a great deal amount of fear, and I very quickly distance myself from them as soon as possible. I'm always paranoid that one will be inside the car one day, and when I pull down the sun visor, all of a sudden this horrible eight legged cretan will fall into my lap, and pretty much give me a heart attack. I don't know how I would react, and I don't even want to think of it, to be honest. I don't know what it is about them, be it their size, or the fact they just randomly drop from the ceiling, or be it the size of their pincers, but I cannot stand them. I don't care how much people say that huntsmen are harmless, and I'm just overreacting, I ain't getting near them, thanks very much. That's definitely one thing I love about this house I am living in, I haven't seen a huntsman in the 10 years I have been here, touch wood. Fear is a common human emotion after all. We all have different fears in life, be it claustrophobia (fear of confined spaces), ophidiophobia (fear of snakes), acrophobia (fear of heights), trypanophobia (fear of needles), or whatever it may be. It's common to be scared of something. Have you ever heard of these three phobias before though; periculophobia, metathesiophobia, and atychiphobia? Personally I haven't, so I had to research them, but in order of what they are, they would be a fear of taking risks, a fear of change, and a fear of failure. These three phobias aren't in the same category as my arachnophobia is, and the reason being is that my fear doesn't prevent me from achieving a future blessed with happiness, success, prosperity, and fulfillment, whereby these three actually do. It's these three phobias that are so common amongst society, yet people aren't even aware of them, because unlike spiders in which you can visually see, the fear of risk, change and failure, are all only visible in the mind.

I talk so much about how so many people fail to prioritize their goals in life, how they fail to strive for them, and how they fail to take action towards achieving them. We live in a world where so many people are unhappy, miserable, and depressed, all because they are living a life that is void of satisfaction, joy, and fulfillment. Many of these same people will whinge and complain about their circumstances, and believe they are hard done by in life. They also believe they are trapped within their circumstances, and there's no solution to eliminating the various aspects that are causing them unhappiness. The real truth is they are actually keeping themselves as a prisoner to their own circumstances, and they are unhappy, miserable, and depressed, because they refuse to make changes, take risks, and take action in working towards a better life for themselves. The biggest factor that contributes to people's unhappiness would have to be around their employment, as considering nearly 9 out of every 10 people who work actually dislike their job or business. Spending anywhere between 6 to 14 hours a day, committing to something we don't even like doing, of course that's not going to bring us happiness. The problem is, people aren't prepared to invest time and effort into looking at alternative working options. Even when they do, they are too fearful to pursue it, because once again, they are concerned about failing, or not being skilled and knowledgeable, or worried that they will potentially lose financially, or scared they may be ridiculed and criticized by others for following such a path. The same goes for our goals, we are just too scared to take that step in working towards them, because we focus on the potential negative outcomes, and we aren't prepared to alter the way we live in any way, as we are comfortable at least. Even when we do take the plunge, most of us pull the pin along the journey, because we continually encounter failure, rejections, and setbacks, which intensifies the fear and doubt we perhaps first started out with, which leads us to quit.

Let's face facts! What we yearn for and desire in life, can only be found on the other side of our fears. Unless we are prepared to overcome our fear of failure, fear of taking risks, and fear of making changes, can we ever achieve the success and happiness we long for. I'm not going to sugar coat the feelings and emotions we experience when starting the journey towards positively transforming our life, or working towards our goals, because it is indeed damn scary. There is always going to be an element of fear because it's a road that is unchartered territory for us, something new, something that does have risk attached to it, something that can go horribly wrong, and something that drags us out of our comfort zone. You wouldn't be human if you didn't feel scared, but there should also be an element of excitement also, in the fact that you are about to embark on a journey that is going to change your life. I'm also not going to sugar coat what the journey is like, because it is incredibly tough. There are constant challenges, constant failures, constant setbacks, and constant rejections, and that's without mentioning how we also are bombarded with criticism and judgment from others, who totally disapprove of the decisions and actions we are undertaking, because it may inconvenience them, or not fit in with their agenda. The reality is, what we are initially scared of, often comes true, but it's how we perceive and react to it that determines what happens next. If we see these failures and adversities as a sign that we are not meant to achieve the success we are after, like most people do, and we therefore quit, we immediately kiss our goals goodbye. That journey to date becomes wasted. If we acknowledge that failure and adversity as being just a common aspect of the road to success, and we continue to persevere, remain patient, remain resilient, make changes to our actions, and work hard, then achieving that goal remains alive, and becomes another day closer for us.

So where can we draw on this strength and courage to overcome these fears that are holding us back in life, that are denying us the opportunity for success, happiness, satisfaction, fulfillment, and prosperity? Firstly, let's understand and acknowledge the fears we have within us. Fear is a natural emotion that protects our safety and wellbeing after all, but it should never be one that holds us back, or keep us stagnant. Allow your fears to constructively influence your decision making, not allow them to fill your mind with doubt and negativity. Secondly, you don't need to overcome your fears by jumping straight in the deep end. It's still important to carefully consider the risks, and any address concerns you may have, so you can make a more calculated decision. Thirdly, accept your fears. Identify exactly what you are fearful of, and then accept the fact you are human. Remember that fear is a natural emotion, but you cannot overcome these fears if you first don't have a clear awareness of them. Fourthly, remember to think long-term future, not just short-term. Because of these regular failures and adversities, you are going to be tested, and your resilience levels will be exposed, therefore it's imperative to continually remind yourself what you are on the journey for in the first place. Your goal should drive you so intensely, that it pushes you to overcome any fears you inhabit. Fifthly, defeat your doubts. Together with fear, doubt is also one of the biggest success killers. If you enter into the journey in pursuing your goals, being riddled with doubt that you're not good enough, you're not skillful enough, you're not talented enough, you're not knowledgeable enough, and you question that you have the ability to succeed, then invest time into personal development and self education. Perhaps you need to research more on the particular line of work you are doing, or how to strengthen your mind.

Sixthly, surround yourself with people who are genuinely supportive of you and your quest, who are goals driven themselves, who are encouraging, who are inspirational, and who are positive minded. When you have the right people around you, who have perhaps conquered their own fears, or who are on a similar journey, they will add in some extra motivation to help you overcome your fears. This includes finding yourself a mentor, someone who has achieved success for themselves, and demonstrates and role models the right behaviors and attitude. Seventhly, visualize your success daily. A common practice identified from those who have achieved success, is that they always created a vision in their mind of what their success would look like, whilst they were on the journey. They construct that scene in their mind, having visualized the setting, the people present, the feelings and emotions of their achievement, what was in the background, and anything else that formed the picture of their moment of success. It's like continually then believing that exact moment will come to fruition, and turning a vision into reality. Eighthly, stop over valuating the height of the potential failure you fear. Sometimes, we can be that focused on the potential negative outcomes, that we start over valuating the worse case scenarios. We believe in complete doom and gloom, when in reality, if a negative outcome did present itself, it's not exactly the end of the world like we assumed it would be. Ninthly, maintain a positive mindset and attitude. Fear breeds from negativity. The more pessimistic and negative minded you are, the more likely you will be controlled by fear. The most important thing about maintaining a positive mindset and attitude, is to continue believing in yourself, continue believing that you have the ability to succeed and prosper, continue believing in your potential, and continue believing that you will reach your goal. Having belief and a positive mindset is what differentiates between those who go on to succeed, and those who succumb to failure.

Finally, be adaptable. Don't get caught out doing the same action over and over again, if it is not producing the results and outcomes you are seeking. In entering the journey to achieving your goals and success, you need to understand that the action plan you create to accomplish these rewards, will undoubtedly need tweaking many times along the way. Success doesn't happen overnight or hastily, it's very rare. It takes a lot of time and patience, but not only that, there will be many failures along the way as a result of actions not working. Failures are nothing more than opportunities to pivot, and change actions, that is all. You need to be adaptable and accepting of changing up your plan many times throughout your journey. Right there are 10 handy hints in how to overcome those fears that are holding you back from success, happiness, satisfaction, fulfillment, and prosperity, in life. Other motivational speakers, life coaches, and myself, could write all day long about various methods and tips to overcome your fears, but the onus is on you to now have the courage to start taking risks, to start making changes, and to view failure as opportunities rather than finality. You have to be brave if you want to positively transform your life. Just get in and get to work on pursuing your goals today, otherwise it becomes another day wasted, and another day spent being unhappy, unsatisfied, and miserable. It's time to go from being fearful to fearless!

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