How to make fear your friend

What kind of life do you dream of? What should it consist of? What are you willing to do to get what you want? Whatever the answers, whatever the path you see, at every stage, fear will follow you relentlessly, so it’s best to start getting used to it. It can teach you a lot, it will change you, but you can also use it to change the world.

School of Life

At school, we are taught a lot: how to write and count, how the world works, and so on. And yet the most important lessons: how to cope with adversity, recover from mistakes and failures made, build strong personal and professional relationships — we learn outside the school walls.

Fear can both help us and slow us down. A few steps to help you survive in a duel with him:

• Acknowledge your fear. Analyze your life path, every important choice you have made and what motivated you to make it.
• Enter into a dialogue to get to know him better. Appreciate what you have now and the cost of your fears. If you failed at one stage or another, what would it be like today?
• Choose an alternative course of action. Understand what matters most to you and decide what to do next.
• Take action. Walk the path that aligns with your values.

Awareness, face-to-face confrontation, and the choice of an alternative course of action are necessary to cope with fear. Self-awareness, empathy, self-care, and courage will help along the way. We can and should live life on our own terms. Unfortunately, many people run away from their dreams, we often lack the courage and awareness to face our fears.

Exercise will help get the ball rolling. Think about what you love the most. Most likely, a family or a loved one will come to mind for many. This is a special category, which we will not consider now. Think about something else — remember a thing, hobby or activity that inspires you, gives you a burst of enthusiasm, makes your heart beat faster, “lights a fire” inside you. What gives color and meaning to life?

Now analyze the last six months of life. How many times have you indulged in your favorite pastime? How many steps have you taken towards your dream? What if I told you that all the successful people you admire started from the same starting positions? I’m not talking about financial status, education and background. I’m talking about the mental and emotional state, the readiness to go to the dream.

We either move where we want to go most, or we stagnate. And we still do not find the answer to the main question: what if we really became what we were destined to be?

Everything is in our heads. First of all, we must believe that what we dream about is even possible. Add enthusiasm to faith, and you have a solid foundation for emotional and mental well-being. Without this, you are unlikely to be able to accomplish something truly outstanding.

The good news is that you probably already have everything you need. It remains only to believe in it.

Don’t wait for the turning point, it’s already here. Right now, you can decide whether you will live the life you dreamed of, or choose a safe gray existence. The desire and strength to overcome fear can truly change lives.

Paradoxical struggle

If you intend to fight, prepare to fight the enemy before it begins. You need to overcome the voice in your head that whispers lies:

• “You don’t have enough abilities/skills”, “You’re not good enough for this”;
• «You are too old/young»;
• «You don’t have enough experience»;
• «Success will break you»;
• «You can’t build your own business»;
• «It’s too hard, try something else.»

And so on and so forth. Not a single successful entrepreneur or person who has achieved something significant knows what he will succeed, and you will not know until you try.

It’s all about being ready to act. Are you ready to follow your dream? If so, don’t worry about what others will say. Gather all your enthusiasm, faith and passion, use your fear to your advantage and fight.