Fear gets to the best of us, whether it is fear of failure, fear of success or even fear of fear. All of us have experienced fear at some point in our lives and it can be a real stumbling block that holds us back from being truly successful. 

For most of my life, I allowed fear to rule my actions. The fear stemmed from many things. Fear of abandonment, fear of failure, fear of disappointment, fear of losing, fear of not being good enough. My fears led to my need for the approval of others which led me to be a people pleaser to the point that I did so much for others that I never really knew how to do for me. I never put myself first. I never loved me. I didn’t really know who I was. I tried to be whatever I needed to be for the person I had in my life at the time.  

Thankfully, in time I was taught ways to combat my fears and as I started making these changes, I began seeing real change that shifted my way of thinking that then changed my life in such a powerful way.  

If you are reading this, then that shows bravery alone that you know that there needs to be change in some way in order to make your life better. Combating fear is a major step in building courage and starting to get control back so you can start living the life you want. 

Fear can’t hold you back forever, if you don’t let it. There are several ways to overcome fear, here are my top 9: 

 1. SEPARATE REALITY FROM PERCEPTION 

 We all create our own realities. The challenge is to be able to take that step back and separate what you see as your reality from your perception of it. Ask yourself what is really going on, locate the facts and place them over your feelings. A lot of times we can work to find evidence of the things we fear or believe that can prove those false. The more we step out of believing things that we were told we should believe and start looking for our own evidence behind it, then we can start to think for ourselves and understand that our perception of things will lead to our realities of what we end up believing and accepting as is.  

2. IDENTIFY THE TRIGGER 

Figure out what it is in a situation that triggers you. Learning to identify it will help you learn to combat it. Think back to your childhood or any past experiences that may have been the starting point that created that trigger in the first place. The more you become aware of those triggers and see how you react because of them, the more power you gain over it because you then can decide to change the way you respond to it and choose to start feeling differently about it.   

3. KNOW WHERE FEAR LIVES IN YOUR BODY 

Often, fear takes over physically. It affects different people in different ways. Identify if/how it affects your physical body and do the work to take care of your body. Ex: if you hold stress in your back, you can learn stretches, foam rolling, etc. to avoid the pain. 

 4. PRACTICE GRATITUDE 

Every day, list out 1-3 things you are thankful for in a gratitude journal. It doesn’t matter how big or small it is, gratitude helps shift the mind into a positive light, which overtime overcomes fear.  

Gratitude is a powerful emotion that can help you to also shift what you attract in your life. It can help change your perspective of your life and help you see how great things are even if you may not be exactly where you want to right now. It can help drive you to keep moving forward and getting more and more of what you want. It will also help you find happiness within yourself now instead of feeling like you need something in order to be happy.  

 5. LISTEN TO YOUR INNER VOICE 

Monitor your inner conversations. If you wouldn’t say it to a friend, don’t say it to yourself. Speak positively to yourself and remind yourself of your strengths. Remind yourself of your worth and your capabilities. Create affirmations to help you speak positively about yourself so you can become courageous and combat your fears that have been holding you back.  

 6. CREATE A NEW ASSOCIATION 

Remind yourself that the feeling and the moment will pass. Focus on the positive outcome of the situation, rather than the scary in-between. They say it takes 90 seconds to feel an emotion. You should allow yourself to feel it and accept it. Give it no more than that 90 seconds and then choose to focus on a better way of looking at whatever it is. Overtime, you will see that the 90 seconds gets less and less before you shift out of that emotion and are able to turn it around for the better.  

 7. LOOK AT THE GLASS HALF FULL 

Perception is a very powerful thing, and how you feel about your situation dictates how you respond. So, think positively and you’ll give yourself a much better chance of success. This won’t happen overnight; practice with just one thought. What is one recurring negative/fearful thought you have? Work on reversing this one thought. Overtime, this will become a habit. 

 8. PRACTICE BREATHING EXERCISES 

Breathing helps center your body; when you stop breathing, your heart stops beating. You can do a grounding exercise, or even just take 5 deep, long breaths at any point to calm and center yourself. It is best to start your day with this, but feel free to practice all day long. 

 9. CREATE A SAFE SPACE 

When you feel safe and secure, there is no room for fear. Find somewhere safe you can retreat to when ill feelings begin- whether this is a real place such as your bedroom, or a place in your mind such as the beach. This sense of comfort will soothe you and allow you to face your fear. 

Please keep in mind, these are just 9 strategies, not everything works for everyone. But this is a place to start. Start implementing these techniques into your life and don’t let fear hold you back from reaching your goals and your highest potential this year! 

If you want to dive deeper into these and other practices that can help you face your fears, then feel free to contact me and let’s get connected to see how I can help you on your journey of combating your fears so you can begin creating the life you want.