Fear is a vital response to physical and
emotional danger—if we didn't feel it, we couldn't
protect ourselves from legitimate threats. But
often we fear situations that are far from life-or-
death, and thus hang back for no good reason.Traumas or bad experiences can trigger a fear
response within us that is hard to quell. Yet
exposing ourselves to our personal demons is
the best way to move past them.
How to Start Overcoming Fear,Right
Now
1. Awareness. Before you can begin
overcoming fear, you have to know that they
are causing havoc in your life. It’s easy to get
so attached to your thoughts and feelings that
you think they are all that exist, which couldn’t
be further from the truth.
2. Identify. Get specific about what exactly
you’re afraid of. Look at the pictures you have
in your head about the situation. What is
happening in them? What are you really scared
of? Become an observer of your inner space.
3. Curiosity. While curiosity may have killed
the cat, it certainly won’t do you any harm
when investigating your fears. Get curious
about what thoughts generate your fear, where
do you feel the fear, and how do you react to
it? Again, be an observer of what is going on.
4. The Now. What are you lacking right now?
When you center yourself in the now, you
realize that everything is how it is. You
naturally accept what is. Tapping into the now
can be as simple as feeling your body and
breath. My favorite book on the subject is
Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle.
5. EFT. EFT is short for Emotional Freedom
Techniques. You use your fingertips to tap
meridian points on your body while thinking of a
fear you have and it alleviates and sometimes
gets rid of the fear altogether. Simple, yet
extremely powerful.
6. Sedona Method. Another simple system to
conquer fear is the Sedona method . It consists
of asking a few simple questions while
focusing on your fear. It’s so simple that I
dismissed it several times before taking it
seriously. Bad move!
7. The Work. The Work is very similar to the
Sedona method in that it asks questions. The
Work is one of my favorite ways of dealing
with fears, anxieties, and worries. If you go for
nothing else on this list, go for The Work. It will
rock your world, if you let it.
8. Hypnosis. With hypnosis, you can program
the right thoughts into your mind and eliminate
negative beliefs. This doesn’t work for
everyone, but it might for you. My brother uses
it to consistently evoke positive change in his
life.
9. Gratitude. Whenever you feel fear, switch it
over to what you are grateful for instead . If
you’re afraid of public speaking, be grateful for
the opportunity to communicate with so many
people, and that they are there to genuinely
listen to what you have to say.
10. Journaling. Getting your fears down on
paper is important, because trying to think
them through never works. You get caught in
endless loops of negativity that only lead you
further down the rabbit hole, and make your life
miserable.
11. Talk. No-brainer advice, but how often do
we hold the negative in because we are afraid
of how others might react, or because of some
other reason? Talking helps, but don’t throw a
pity party for yourself.
12. Therapy. If you can find a good therapist,
therapy can be highly beneficial, even life-changing. Finding the right therapist for you
can be hard. Listen to your heart and choose
someone who resonates with you.
13. NLP. NLP is short for Neuro-Linguistic
Programming. I’ve been to a seminar with the
co-founder, Richard Bandler. You learn how
your mind works. In my experience, I’ve found
The Work to be much more powerful for me
personally, but I know that NLP has helped
thousands in eliminating phobias, fears, and
other emotional problems.
14. Life Coach. Do you have a fear of success,
or a fear of failure? A good life coach can help
you examine what you truly want from life, and
where your fears come from. I’ve spoken to a
few in my life and while it can be scary, it’s
very helpful in getting clear about what you
want and what’s stopping you .
15. Read. Reading a good book on your specific
fear can open new doors on how you can get
rid of it. I also like to read a lot of motivational
and inspirational work on and around the topic
I’m dealing with.
16. Take Action. I’m an action taker, and I
know that fears are just fears. They are
created by your imagination to make reality
seem scarier than it is. When you take action
and face your fears, they become weaker,
because you realize that reality isn’t nearly as
bad as your imagination.
17. Watch. Watching a movie or a documentary
can be as enlightening as reading a book.
Sometimes it’s nice to distract yourself from
your fear, but if you really want to, you can find
dozens of movies on the fear you’re dealing
with.
18. Diet. Did you know that the food you eat
can have a dramatic impact on how you feel?
All the sugars, additives, sweeteners, and
other chemicals in our foods have a
surprisingly powerful effect in getting our body
out of balance. Stick to a clean diet that suits
you.
19. Positivity. Whenever fear strikes, flip it
over. Instead of thinking of something bad that
can happen, think of something positive.What’s a positive outcome to your fear? If
you’re thinking about public speaking, imagine
yourself being wildly successful instead of
failing horribly. This is very similar to #9 but
with a small twist.
20. Perspective. Learning to deal with fear is all
about putting your negative thoughts in
perspective. We tend to focus too much on the
negative, so by looking at all the options, you
often realize that you’re making a big deal of
nothing. There are so many things that can
happen that it’s impossible for you to predict.We aren’t psychics.
21. Surrender. Surrendering to what is is
powerful, because as long as we try to change
what is, we are in war with reality. To learn
more about how to surrender to what is, I
recommend you read Loving What Is: Four
Questions That Can Change Your Life . It’s the
book on The Work I mentioned earlier. I
personally love it.
22. Your Story. We all tell ourselves a story
about our fear. If I’m afraid that no one will like
my writing, I tell myself a story (in my head)
about how I’ll fail horribly, people will laugh at
me, or even worse, no one will read what I
have to say. What’s your story?
23. Release Control. We want control and
predictability, even though it’s impossible to
get. Where we don’t have control, we
experience fear. But is it possible to ever have
control? Even if you can swim, you can drown.
A professional guitar player can still make
mistakes and butcher a gig. Give up the illusion
of control, and you’re free.
24. Help. Be kind to others. If you’re shy, focus
on helping people instead of being self-conscious about how you look or sound when
you talk. Flip it on other people and make
yourself feel good. This is very similar to #16.
25. Meaning. I believe we all go through things
for a reason. That includes the fears we have.
It also includes overcoming fear and learning
the lessons that come out of it. This may not be
the case 100% of the time, but when I look
back at the challenges and fears in my life, I
see that more often than not, they delivered
exactly the message I needed at that time.
emotional danger—if we didn't feel it, we couldn't
protect ourselves from legitimate threats. But
often we fear situations that are far from life-or-
death, and thus hang back for no good reason.Traumas or bad experiences can trigger a fear
response within us that is hard to quell. Yet
exposing ourselves to our personal demons is
the best way to move past them.
How to Start Overcoming Fear,Right
Now
1. Awareness. Before you can begin
overcoming fear, you have to know that they
are causing havoc in your life. It’s easy to get
so attached to your thoughts and feelings that
you think they are all that exist, which couldn’t
be further from the truth.
2. Identify. Get specific about what exactly
you’re afraid of. Look at the pictures you have
in your head about the situation. What is
happening in them? What are you really scared
of? Become an observer of your inner space.
3. Curiosity. While curiosity may have killed
the cat, it certainly won’t do you any harm
when investigating your fears. Get curious
about what thoughts generate your fear, where
do you feel the fear, and how do you react to
it? Again, be an observer of what is going on.
4. The Now. What are you lacking right now?
When you center yourself in the now, you
realize that everything is how it is. You
naturally accept what is. Tapping into the now
can be as simple as feeling your body and
breath. My favorite book on the subject is
Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle.
5. EFT. EFT is short for Emotional Freedom
Techniques. You use your fingertips to tap
meridian points on your body while thinking of a
fear you have and it alleviates and sometimes
gets rid of the fear altogether. Simple, yet
extremely powerful.
6. Sedona Method. Another simple system to
conquer fear is the Sedona method . It consists
of asking a few simple questions while
focusing on your fear. It’s so simple that I
dismissed it several times before taking it
seriously. Bad move!
7. The Work. The Work is very similar to the
Sedona method in that it asks questions. The
Work is one of my favorite ways of dealing
with fears, anxieties, and worries. If you go for
nothing else on this list, go for The Work. It will
rock your world, if you let it.
8. Hypnosis. With hypnosis, you can program
the right thoughts into your mind and eliminate
negative beliefs. This doesn’t work for
everyone, but it might for you. My brother uses
it to consistently evoke positive change in his
life.
9. Gratitude. Whenever you feel fear, switch it
over to what you are grateful for instead . If
you’re afraid of public speaking, be grateful for
the opportunity to communicate with so many
people, and that they are there to genuinely
listen to what you have to say.
10. Journaling. Getting your fears down on
paper is important, because trying to think
them through never works. You get caught in
endless loops of negativity that only lead you
further down the rabbit hole, and make your life
miserable.
11. Talk. No-brainer advice, but how often do
we hold the negative in because we are afraid
of how others might react, or because of some
other reason? Talking helps, but don’t throw a
pity party for yourself.
12. Therapy. If you can find a good therapist,
therapy can be highly beneficial, even life-changing. Finding the right therapist for you
can be hard. Listen to your heart and choose
someone who resonates with you.
13. NLP. NLP is short for Neuro-Linguistic
Programming. I’ve been to a seminar with the
co-founder, Richard Bandler. You learn how
your mind works. In my experience, I’ve found
The Work to be much more powerful for me
personally, but I know that NLP has helped
thousands in eliminating phobias, fears, and
other emotional problems.
14. Life Coach. Do you have a fear of success,
or a fear of failure? A good life coach can help
you examine what you truly want from life, and
where your fears come from. I’ve spoken to a
few in my life and while it can be scary, it’s
very helpful in getting clear about what you
want and what’s stopping you .
15. Read. Reading a good book on your specific
fear can open new doors on how you can get
rid of it. I also like to read a lot of motivational
and inspirational work on and around the topic
I’m dealing with.
16. Take Action. I’m an action taker, and I
know that fears are just fears. They are
created by your imagination to make reality
seem scarier than it is. When you take action
and face your fears, they become weaker,
because you realize that reality isn’t nearly as
bad as your imagination.
17. Watch. Watching a movie or a documentary
can be as enlightening as reading a book.
Sometimes it’s nice to distract yourself from
your fear, but if you really want to, you can find
dozens of movies on the fear you’re dealing
with.
18. Diet. Did you know that the food you eat
can have a dramatic impact on how you feel?
All the sugars, additives, sweeteners, and
other chemicals in our foods have a
surprisingly powerful effect in getting our body
out of balance. Stick to a clean diet that suits
you.
19. Positivity. Whenever fear strikes, flip it
over. Instead of thinking of something bad that
can happen, think of something positive.What’s a positive outcome to your fear? If
you’re thinking about public speaking, imagine
yourself being wildly successful instead of
failing horribly. This is very similar to #9 but
with a small twist.
20. Perspective. Learning to deal with fear is all
about putting your negative thoughts in
perspective. We tend to focus too much on the
negative, so by looking at all the options, you
often realize that you’re making a big deal of
nothing. There are so many things that can
happen that it’s impossible for you to predict.We aren’t psychics.
21. Surrender. Surrendering to what is is
powerful, because as long as we try to change
what is, we are in war with reality. To learn
more about how to surrender to what is, I
recommend you read Loving What Is: Four
Questions That Can Change Your Life . It’s the
book on The Work I mentioned earlier. I
personally love it.
22. Your Story. We all tell ourselves a story
about our fear. If I’m afraid that no one will like
my writing, I tell myself a story (in my head)
about how I’ll fail horribly, people will laugh at
me, or even worse, no one will read what I
have to say. What’s your story?
23. Release Control. We want control and
predictability, even though it’s impossible to
get. Where we don’t have control, we
experience fear. But is it possible to ever have
control? Even if you can swim, you can drown.
A professional guitar player can still make
mistakes and butcher a gig. Give up the illusion
of control, and you’re free.
24. Help. Be kind to others. If you’re shy, focus
on helping people instead of being self-conscious about how you look or sound when
you talk. Flip it on other people and make
yourself feel good. This is very similar to #16.
25. Meaning. I believe we all go through things
for a reason. That includes the fears we have.
It also includes overcoming fear and learning
the lessons that come out of it. This may not be
the case 100% of the time, but when I look
back at the challenges and fears in my life, I
see that more often than not, they delivered
exactly the message I needed at that time.
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