Fear is a natural adventure in the lives of human beings. It is a well-known killer that acts as a protective core, alerting us to impending danger. However, after it goes over the top or becomes irrationally entangled, it could keep us away from accomplishing our goals, from full living, or from engaging in normal, everyday activities. Fortunately, fear is not indomitable. With proper understanding and the right approach, fear can be dealt with to allow a more open experience of life.
1.Understanding Fear
Fear is a fundamentally compound interplay of emotional and physical responses. The mechanism at work is that of “flight or fight,” a survival instinct that is partly situated in one of the oldest areas of the brain. When a suspected threat is identified, the brain triggers a reaction via the hormones—predominantly adrenaline and cortisol—to prepare an action towards fighting or fleeing from that threat.
However, rational or otherwise, not all fears are based on real threats. There could be some that do not seem like they’re worth worrying about yet still do: fear of public speaking, anxiety of failure, fear of the unknown, and so on. These flavors of fear can take place without any palpable danger in the immediate future, though their unchecked rush may wreak unspeakable distress on our selves.
Steps to Overcome Your Fears
Recognize Your Fear
Recognizing fear, whatever it may be, is the first essential step to conquering it. Suppressing fear only makes it more powerful. Be honest with yourself about what you’re afraid of. Is it the fear of public speaking? A social situation? Heights? Or is there a fear of failure?
After identifying what you fear, learning about that fear in order to confront it is the next step. Conduct a little Q&A with yourself:
- What am I exactly afraid of?
- What are the worst consequences that could follow?
- How realistic is my fear?
- Is it based on irrational thoughts, or past experiences?
Understanding where the fear is coming from allows it to be put into perspective; therefore making it more useful for you.
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2.Understand the Nature of Fear
Often times, fears are magnified by our mind. The “what if” scenarios you create could easily turn a situation into something much worse. So, by rationalizing the fear and challenging those exaggerated thoughts, you can reduce this cognitive distortion.
For example, you can use cognitive restructuring, which changes irrational thoughts with more balanced, realistic ones: if you have a fear of public speaking, tell yourself that most people are not judging you as harshly as you might believe, and that the audience is usually supportive.
3.Take Baby Steps (Gradual Exposure)
Gradual exposure is one of the best mechanisms to overcome fear. Exposure therapy means slowly and steadily confronting the specific fear in a pressure-controlled environment, beginning with much lesser intimidating situations and getting slowly conditioned toward stronger ones.
For instance, you can start saying hello to a neighbor or participating in a group chat with people around you. Set yourself to slowly and steadily embark on tackling intense situations where you will eventually find yourself speaking at meetings or large social gatherings.
This technique is usually referred to as systematic desensitization, in that it helps you build tolerance and reduces anxiety with each subsequent experience. In essence, you will slowly gain tolerance for the provocative stimulus and balance your anxiety with coping strategies.
4.Practice Mindfulness and Relaxation Techniques
Fear constitutes a physiological response in the body. This means it is marked by increased heart rate, shallow breathing, and tightness in major muscles such as the neck, chest, or stomach. One of the ways of counteracting psychophysiological symptoms of fear is through mindfulness and relaxation techniques.
- Breath Deep: Deep breathing slows down our breath and activates our body’s relaxation response, reducing stress and inducing calm.
- Progressive Muscle Relaxation: Tensing and then relaxing groups of muscles can help reduce tension in the body.
5.Contesting Negative Beliefs
Many fears begin with some kind of negative belief or catastrophizing. Often, we exaggerate these fears by imagining the worst possible outcome without caring about whatever likelihood that it would happen really is. To contest such beliefs is indeed the key ingredient to overcoming fear.
To achieve this, ask yourself:
- What evidence do I have for my fear and contrary to it?
- What is the most likely outcome, and how bad would it really be?
- Have I faced similar fears in the past and survived?
When looking at the reality of your fears, you’ll often find that these are not as threatening as you once believed. Whenever you replace such an irrational belief with a more grounded perspective, the power it has over you is reduced.
6.Visualize Success
Visualization is some powerful medicine to treat fear. It will serve to lessen anxiety and increase self-confidence when undertaking the act of positively rehearsing whatever situation it is you fear.
For a minute, close your eyes and visualize yourself facing that fear successfully. For instance, if you fear speaking to an audience, see yourself confidently delivering your speech to a smiling, positively-motivated audience, who are clapping for you, which is what you’ve prepared. The more vivid and more often you practice this visualization, the easier it will be for you when faced with the real-life situation.
conclusion
Dread might in all likelihood never completely disappear, however it has no need of administering your life. By tolerating your feelings of trepidation for what they are and acquiring a more prominent comprehension of their tendency, you can drive yourself to confront them and, in doing as such, fill in certainty and flexibility to completely carry on with life more. Keep in mind: Beating dread is a laborious excursion, and each step you make is one stride nearer to being a more enabled, valiant variant of yourself.
Partake simultaneously, remembering that with tolerance, perseverance, and self-sympathy, you can confront any power keeping you from your prosperity.
