Contents
To grow – personally, professionally, or financially – you need to take actions that are unusual for yourself. But our brain often reads the new as a danger, and where the danger is, there is fear that prevents us from acting. What are the most common anxieties that arise during the growth process and how to keep moving forward if you are afraid of something?
The first thing to understand is that it’s okay to be afraid when doing something new. Going to the next level is scary for everyone, even for those who have already conquered the heights to which we are only striving. This means that you can accept your fear, continue to be afraid, but at the same time act and even achieve results.
When we allow ourselves to experience this feeling, we stop thinking that something is wrong with us. And from the feeling of “I’m fine,” of course, it’s much easier to move forward.
So that fear does not interfere with action, first you need to see and realize it. We have collected the most common fears that arise in the process of growth.
Fear of public opinion
What will they think of me? What if they misunderstand me? Will they criticize or condemn? We are afraid of rejection, which is rooted in the fear of death – to be rejected by parents or society for a person in the past meant certain death. Fortunately, this is not the case now. As adults in today’s world, we can choose environments where we feel accepted and supported.
Ask yourself: Am I going to give up on my goal just because someone else thinks something of me? Is it possible that someone’s grin or criticism can stop me on the way to the life I want?
Fear of failure
We often fear that we will not be able to realize our plans. The problem is that we treat the error as a total failure. But if without drama, then a wrong step is just an experience. And experience is good, it helps us grow.
If a child, after the first attempt to walk and the first fall, immediately gave up, people would crawl on all fours. Success is the number of attempts, and it is achieved by those who do not stop after failure.
Fear of change
Our psyche is ambiguous: one part of us strives for something new, the other wants to leave everything as it is. Considering that changes in one area almost always entail changes in others, it can be really difficult to decide on them.
It is important to understand that the human brain is geared towards energy saving and process automation. In other words, he wants to continue doing what he is accustomed to, even if it no longer suits us very well.
Here it is important to decide whether we leave the reins of power to the automatic reactions of the brain or begin to consciously manage our lives.
Fear of loss
Moving to another city, we lose the environment. Leaving employment in business or freelancing, we lose stability. By hiring a team, we increase costs.
Losses are unpleasant, but let’s look at them differently. When we lose, we always gain something else. Income, freedom, opportunities, new people, after all, the same experience. It’s probably worth giving up something for this.
Fear of responsibility
As you can see, on our built-in “autopilot” you can’t get to a new life. You will have to make adult decisions and be responsible for any of their outcomes.
It can be scary, but where there is responsibility, there is a choice. And it is always more pleasant than when they decide for us.
As you have already noticed, our fears are always on one side of the scale, while on the other is our growth and the life we aspire to. It remains to be seen which bowl will be heavier for us.
Anastasia Vaulina
ASCTH ICF coach, blogger, journalist.
instagram.com/anastasiya_vaulina