Do you have a fear or two in your closet? Well, you’re not alone, we all have fears. Fortunately, most of our fears have to do with our personal insecurities and not our personal survival. Will I meet my deadline? Does my boss like me? Will the bank approve my business loan? Now, I’m not downplaying our insecurities because they often stand between us and our goals.
I recently read a post that included these tips from therapists and researchers that we can use to put ourselves on a path without limitations set by fear.
Be Honest With Yourself
We can’t turn a blind eye to our fears and hope that they’ll go away. So the first step in conquering a fear is to accept that it exists. This can be a painful and scary first step, but it makes sense. You can’t work on something if you deny that it exists.
Remember Your Breathing
Oh, this tip can really help me. I can’t tell you how many times that I literally forget to breath. Early in my career I observed how management punished managers for not not controlling situations. Managers were expected to know all facets of their areas–from budgets to politics to personnel problems. It didn’t matter if you were not the direct supervisor, if you were in that management chain and something happened that an executive thought you should have known–wham!
This resulted in me developing the habit of taking shallow and short breaths. I spent a lot of time doing and “being in control” so as to be on top of situations for my bosses. Little did I know that instead of being in control I was triggering anxious symptoms into action. I’m now re-learning how to breathe and not let anxiety rule my performance.
Talk to Someone
It is so important to have a mentor, friend or confidante so that you can share your innermost fears and anxieties. By sharing with a trusted person, you will quickly realize that you are not facing those crocodiles alone. They may not know your business or industry, but they do have your personal interest at heart and may shed a different light on the situation.
Tackle Your Fear Head On
This tip correlates directly to Eleanor Roosevelt’s quote to do something scarey every day. Amy Morin advises:
The key to overcoming a debilitating fear is to start by doing something that is only slightly anxiety-provoking. On a scale of 1 to 10, while 1 meaning no anxiety and 10 being equal to sheer terror, look for something that would raise your anxiety to level 4. Then, keep doing that activity until your anxiety decreases.
As I said at the beginning, fear is common to all of us. Successful people know their fears and take steps to overpower them, instead of allowing the fear to overpower them.
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