Do You Let Fear Stop You?

Fear is either a motivator, or killer. It pushes us into action, or paralyzes productive brain and body function. Which is it for you?

Both reactions to fear are normal, even instinctual. And in a sense, fear is good. It's a communication of potential danger that we all need to pay attention to.

BUT -- fear should also be a motivating prompt for changing your focus. Fear calls you to look at the situation from a different angle, and quickly determine a useful response, so that you can keep moving forward toward your goals.

Frantic, scattered, unfocused reactivity to fear kills achievement just as well as depressed, numbed, withdrawal into inaction.

So how can you NOT let fear stop you?

1. Acknowledge that you are feeling scared.
2. Name the deepest fear that's being touched, in the given situation.
3. Refocus away from the feeling back to what you know without a doubt that you can trust.
4. Ask yourself what can I do differently now to still get what I most need in this situation.
5. See in your mind's eye the steps you need to take.
6. Remind yourself that you will learn new skills or self-knowledge from this experience.
7. Cultivate an attitude of faith, hope, and belief -- faith that everything will turn out ok, hope that something better than you can imagine will occur, and belief in your own abilities to persevere.