Fear is one of the most basic of human emotions and just like all human emotions, it’s there to serve a purpose. Fear is what stops us from getting or staying in dangerous situations that we perceive can ultimately kill us. Fear is therefore a survival instinct. You may know the feeling, that sudden rush of adrenaline, heart racing, eyes open wide. This is commonly known as the “fight-or-flight” response, and it is our body giving us the chemical cocktail we need to overcome the perceived danger either physically or by running away. In extreme cases fear can even cause us to freeze, just think of the classic “deer in the headlights” scenario.
Fear and Anxiety
Fear is also closely interrelated with anxiety. In fact, you may be as surprised as I was to learn that they both trigger the same response in the body with the only difference being that with anxiety the threat or danger is imagined as opposed to real and present.
It is in this way that fear can hold us back from achieving the goals and desires we have in life. Think about something in particular you want or need and the steps you know you need to take in order to achieve it, perhaps it’s something you know you should have done a while ago now, do you feel that uneasy feeling deep down that urges you to think about something else? Yup, that’s fear and it’s holding you back.
Fear in the Media
The power of fear can not only prevent you from achieving your goals but it is also used in the media to try to control and manipulate you for the purpose of higher ratings. Keeping you glued to the screen with sensationalist fear-based headlines such as “will you survive the current virus pandemic” and “keep watching to find out how to remain safe” are all tactics used to keep you watching out of fear for your own safety and well being and to become very suggestible to what the “authority” says.
Feel the Fear and do it Anyway
Once we begin to recognise that it is fear (or more accurately anxiety) that is holding us back from our goals, we can start to manage and ultimately conquer it. There is a great book I read a few years back now when I was at this point in my life titled “Feel the Fear & Do It Anyway” by Susan Jeffers. It helped me to “rewire” my brain to see these situations not as obstacles that warrant fear, but as opportunities that can offer us great reward on the other side and help us turn our fear and anxiety into excitement. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking to really tackle fear head-on.
Other ways to overcome your fear can include:
Often facing your fears directly will help you see that the anxieties you held were unfounded.
Irrational fears often stem from traumatic past events. Trying to think back to what this was and processing it internally can help stop or reduce the triggers of fear.
Rewiring how your brain perceives fear can be a powerful coping mechanism.
What other ways and methods have you used that helped you overcome your fear and push forward to your goals? Let me know in the comments below.
