2 Strategies on How to Overcome Fear

If you are reading this, it can only mean one thing: You have a fear of something and you want to get rid of it. Whether it's heights, public speaking or pancakes, fear can compromise the quality of your life. I have taught many people how to overcome fear successfully and they all say the same thing, "Learning how to overcome fear is the most valuable thing I ever did". They say that, because the only thing that can ever hold you back in life is fear, so if you know how to overcome fear, there's nothing in life holding you back. But before teaching you how to overcome fear, you need to understand what fear actually is. Fear is simply an expectation. When you are standing on a cliff, you expect to fall down when you get to close to the edge. When you're asking your boss for a raise, you expect your request to be denied. Your mind doesn't see a difference between what is real and what you are imagining. If you imagine something bad to happen, your body reacts as if it were actually happening by releasing chemicals that make you feel afraid. FEAR is an acronym in the English language for “False Evidence Appearing Real.” - Neale Donald Walsch Now that you know what fear is, you can learn how to overcome fear. There are two main strategies in overcoming fear. #1: Question Your Fear Grab a pen and a piece of paper and write down these two questions: Why am I afraid? What is the worst thing that could happen? By writing down why you're afraid and your worst case scenario, your subconscious mind acknowledges it as not being real and never going to be real. This strategy does not make the fear go away completely, but it is a great way to deal with the fear you are feeling. #2: Confront Your Fear You probably already know that the best way to overcome a fear, is to confront it. The key thing here is to take it in small steps. Let's say you're afraid of elevators. You don't have to go directly to the top floor at your first try. Go to the first floor or maybe the second and get out. When you're ready, go higher. Do this in small steps to get acclimated to what you are afraid of. These two simple strategies work consistently and I'm sure they will work for you.