Fear is a normal emotional response that warns of real or perceived threats. How you respond to those fears can either empower you to move forward or allow the fear to paralyze you, according to Edward A. Selby, M.S., award-winning psychology writer and National Institute of Mental Health Research Fellow. Positive action steps help you to overcome fear and reach your goals.
Face the Fear
Every time you walk away from your fears, Selby says, you give them more power. Break the cycle of negative reinforcement by forcing yourself to face your fears. Over time, this will promote a sense of capability.
Use the Fear
Cognitive psychologist Scott Barry Kaufman, Ph.D., says fear can be a driving force. Often, what you fear in a situation is the possibility of failure. Rather than letting the fear inhibit you, Kaufman says, choose to use it to motivate you toward taking bold steps.
Reprogram Your Fear
Steve Chandler, author of "Fearless: 100 Ways to Motivate Yourself," says many fears are learned reactions, absorbed in childhood from the behavior of others. Question the origin of your fear. Replace those beliefs with more accurate statements about your capability.
Take Small Steps
Overcome your fear by facing it in small steps. The World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Research and Training for Mental Health recommends systematic desensitization, which means exposing yourself to the feared situation in a non-threatening way and slowly facing more challenging tasks. Start by looking at a picture of a snake, for example, then visit the snake house at the zoo, then touch a snake.
Find Your Zone
Anxiety can be countered with mental focus, Kaufman says. Concentrate on the task itself, in spite of your fear. The emotions will fade as your focus creates a state of creative flow.
Get Unstuck
Rumination, the persistent mental focus on negative situations, leads to anxiety, Selby said. Don't allow yourself to dwell on fear. Distract yourself with positive activities. When you think about the fearsome problem, focus on the positive actions you can take rather than negative outcomes.
Be Aware
Dispel your fear with facts. According to tenets of cognitive-behavioral psychology, fear is often based on inaccurate beliefs. Counter them by listing the facts about the feared situation. Facts allow you to take action, while anxiety prohibits action.
Get Positive
Fear is the result of a sense of helplessness. Focus on your strengths as tools against fear. Examine positive skills and traits that have moved you through difficult situations in the past, and enlist them in dealing with the present problem.
Know Your Own Mind
Fear leads to self-sabotaging behavior, Selby says, so that we take action to make ourselves feel better in the moment, rather than facing more difficult tasks that will help us reach our long-term goals. Focus on the steps required to reach your goal rather than procrastinating to avoid your fear of failure.
Tend to Mind and Body
Fear produces physiological symptoms that further reduce your ability to cope with fear. Practice meditation and visualization, breathe deeply, exercise regularly, eat a healthful diet and get adequate sleep to prevent or reduce fear-induced stress.
References
- PsychologyToday.com: Avoidance of Anxiety as Self-Sabotage
- PsychologyToday.com: Life Is One Long Slackline
- Fearless: 100 Ways to Motivate Yourself, Steve Chandler, 2004
- WorldHealthOrganization.org: Overcoming Particular Fears
- National Alliance on Mental Illness: Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy
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