At the beginning of each new year many people consider making resolutions to change for the better. Of those who succeed in making resolutions many fail. But many fail before they give success a chance because of fear. Some are afraid of failure, others are afraid of success. Regardless of the source of the fear, it immobilizes too many and prevents them from achieving what they desire and are capable of.
There is no more sure way to fail than to never try. This year, don’t let fear kill your hustle before you even get moving. Here are 14 ways to overcome fear and make this year the one where nothing holds you back.
(Photo: iStock)
(Photo: iStock)
1. Understand fear and embrace it. Fear exists to keep us safe. It is not inherently bad or good but a tool we can use to make better decisions. Fear isn’t designed to keep us inactive, but to help us act in ways that generate the results we need and want. Embrace fear as instruction and let it inform your actions, but not control them.
2. Don’t just do something, stand there! We tend to admire people who are quick to action, but being deliberate, creating a plan, and pacing yourself are also actions. Many a successful undertaking has been threatened or ruined by haste alone. When fear strikes consider whether the correct action might be to analyze the options and make a wise, well thought out choice rather than jumping to what seems right in the heat of the moment.
3. Name the fear. Sometimes merely stating what your fear is gives you the strength to deal with it. Say your fear out loud, write it down, or focus your mind on it. When you try to ignore your fear, it grows. When you face it, it shrinks.
4. Think long term. If you’re an entrepreneur, you may be afraid you won’t make the next payroll. But what’s your three month outlook, or the outlook for three years from now? Thinking about the long term won’t fix your short term problem, but it can help you think about it more objectively and come up with the right solution.
5. Educate yourself. We are afraid of nothing so much as the unknown. If your fear is based on a lack of information, then get the information or knowledge you need to examine the situation based on facts rather than speculation.
6. Prepare, practice, role play. The long standing top fear in the United States is public speaking. In many surveys, death itself ranks in second place to standing in front of a group and opening your mouth. If your fear is related to your performance in a certain activity then prepare, practice, and role play. Carmine Gallo, author of Talk Like TED, told me about Dr. Jill Bolte-Taylor who practiced her popular TED talk (over 18 million views and counting) more than 200 times. If you don’t have that much time, Gallo says “I find that practicing a presentation a minimum of 10 times is ideal.”
7. Utilize peer pressure. Have you ever done something scary, like jumping off a high bridge into a river below, only because you were with friends who were egging you on? Peer pressure, like fear itself, can be positive or negative depending on how it’s wielded. Surround yourself with people who will push you to overcome the fears that are holding you back from what you want.
8. Visualize success. Athletes may imagine the successful completion of a physical task thousands of times before achieving it. This mental mapping ensures that when the body moves, it’s more likely to follow its pre-ordained path. The same practice will prepare you to succeed at whatever you’re trying to achieve.
9. Gain a sense of proportion. How big of a deal, really, is the thing you’re afraid of? We sometimes get so caught up in the success or failure of a particular quest that we lose sense of where it fits in with everything else we value. Ask yourself what’s the worst that can happen? Sometimes the reality is bad, but often you might find that the fear itself is worse than whatever it is you’re afraid of happening.
10. Get help. Whatever you’re afraid of, is it something you have to do alone? Can you find a mentor or support group to help you through it? Athletes have coaches. Students have teachers. Sometimes friends, even if they have no expertise in the area you’re struggling with, can provide the needed support to face your fear.
11. Follow others, find a recipe. Are you doing something that has never been done, or can you follow the footsteps of someone else who has accomplished it before? Is there a formula for success? Has someone written a book on the topic, or can you tweak a formula from another field to meet your needs?
12. Have a positive attitude. In Brian Tracy’s book The Power of Self-Confidence: Become Unstoppable, Irresistible, and Unafraid in Every Area of Your Life he asks “What would you do differently if you were absolutely guaranteed of success in any undertaking?” Would you try more things? Would you keep working long after others would have given up? People who have positive attitudes are successful because they keep trying after others give up.
13. Be willing to pivot. As the adage goes, “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.” But there’s also the saying “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” If you’re afraid to do something again because it didn’t work out the last time, figure out why it didn’t work, and try something different before you give up trying altogether.
14. Focus on others as your motivation. There are things we would never do for ourselves that we would quickly and fearlessly do for others. Hyrum Smith, the co-founder of FranklinCovey, once asked a mother in his audience during a presentation if she would be willing to cross a standard metal “I beam” placed from the roof of one skyscraper to another. She said no, she wouldn’t. He asked her if she would do it for a million dollars, and added that now there was a bit of wind and some raindrops falling. She still wouldn’t. Then he told her to imagine he was holding her child over the edge of the opposite building, and if she wasn’t there in 10 seconds he would drop the child. What do you think her answer was under those circumstances?
What methods have you used successfully for overcoming fear? Tell us in the comments below.
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Jun 29, 2022,09:00am EDT
When I was 13 years old, I wrote a love letter to my then-boyfriend (middle school dating…) and hid it away in a pair of white tube socks that hadn’t seen the sun in a while. And when I came home from school one day, I found my mom sitting at the kitchen table when she pulled a neatly folded piece of paper out of her pocket, set it on the table, and asked me if I had anything to tell her. I’ve fallen and broken my wrist, had a few tires blow out on the highway, and almost drowned at Ormond Beach, but all of those experiences combined feel more peaceful compared to the fear and panic that consumed me while standing in front of her that day.
My expectations of coming out did not meet the reality of my situation. It didn’t happen the way I thought it would, and it definitely didn’t have the warm embrace I had dreamed of. And at that time in my life, I didn’t have the vocabulary, life experience, or emotional intelligence to show my mom that nothing was wrong with me. I know now that it’s because I shouldn’t have had to explain that there was nothing wrong with me, to my mom or anyone else. No one should ever have to.
“I thought I was a normal kid.”
Giovanny Garzon
Up until that afternoon, I thought I was a normal kid. I would go to the pond to feed the ducks, try to teach my dad the rules of Yu-Gi-Oh (unsuccessfully, I’ll add), and watch Totally Spies whenever it was on. At the very moment that folded paper hit the table, I realized not everyone thought people like me were normal. I experienced a lot of pain and shame in my adolescence around my identity. And for a long time, I didn’t have anyone close to me who truly understood me and knew where I was coming from. The identity I tried to shrug off became a burden forced on my shoulders by those who can’t mind their business and let people be themselves. Ten years later, I am proud to say that I live my life authentically uninhibited and free. But, I’d be lying if I didn’t still feel the shame and pain of my childhood weighing on me from time to time.
Being queer is not an easy endeavor. And as I grow into myself more and more, I can remember those negative feelings and appreciate the ways they’ve taught me and given me blessings I once saw as curses.
Gio (center left) and friends at Orlando Pride 2018.
Giovanny Garzon
Being a queer person has truly been a fountain of strength for me, and it’s provided me with so much that I thought I would never have. Thanks to my queerness, I have:
A beautiful community of queer friends and loved ones who love me unconditionally (I love y’all <3)
A unique sense of resilience that has made me stand strong in my identity and values
A level of introspection that is honestly really annoying sometimes, but has allowed me to get to know myself more and more every day
Immaculate taste in music and a connection to female pop singers that only a gay person can truly understand
The capacity for true authenticity, something that any hateful person will never experience, and I pity them for it
Pride is so much more than rainbow flags and corporate email blasts screeching, “Hi Gay, Happy Pride Month! Sashay into deals today!” Pride Month is the celebration of the adversity we have all had to overcome. Pride Month is our opportunity to honor the brave queer trailblazers who have given up so much, and in many cases everything, to further our rights in this country and globally. Pride Month is our reminder to uplift and look out for each other, knowing that there are still so many facing injustice and disproportionate discrimination, especially Black trans women, who are the most marginalized members of our community. Pride month is our solidarity to continue to make this world a better place for all of us.
Happy Pride Month everyone! And here’s to everyone living as their authentic selves every day of the year.
“Being a queer person has truly been a fountain of strength for me.”
https://www.pharmacytimes.com/view/how-to-conquer-fear-in-your-pharmacy-career
