Everybody has some fears and worries – as humans, we’re programmed to feel fear as a natural response to threats in order to protect and look after ourselves.

But, what happens when your fears begin to take over? Fear can control your life and keep you from following your dreams, prevent you from taking risks, and stop you from living the life that you want and doing the things which you desire.

But…

It doesn’t have to be this way! Fear can hold many people back, and one of the biggest mistakes that you might be making right now is taking your fear at face value.

What you need to understand is that fear can be both real or imagined, and it’s hard for your body and brain to differentiate between the two. Let’s look at two different situations to put this in perspective.

Imagine that there’s an angry bull racing towards you, and you’re wearing a red t-shirt. This would be real fear. You have every reason to be scared if you’re being charged at by a furious horned animal!

Now, imagine that you’ve just turned the lights off after watching a particularly scary horror movie. You know that you’re absolutely safe in your home, but you still can’t shift that nauseous feeling in your gut when you think about some of the scenes from the movie. This fear is imagined.

 

Fear can be a product of two different things – it’s either due to reality, or a product of your imagination. In general, real fear will be felt by both you and others around you, and imagined fear will be personal to you alone. Imagined fear is generated by your beliefs and individual perspective of the world, which is why some people have fears which are completely incomprehensible to others.

For example, a person who fell into a lake as a small child may have a fear of water even into adulthood, whilst somebody who’s never had a scary experience with water could be a professional swimmer with absolutely no fear of scuba diving in the sea. This is because water in and of itself isn’t something to be fearful of, but your personal experience could make it scary for you.

In general, the fears which hold us back are these imagined fears which are personal to each and every one of us. Just because they’re imagined, however, doesn’t mean that they’re not real – they certainly feel very real to the person who is feeling them.

Conquering the fears which are holding you back relies on you getting down to the source. Discovering what causes your fears is key to facing them head on and taking control of your own life and happiness. Figuring out what you need to do to push your fears out of your life and no longer allow them to hold you back will involve putting everything into perspective and sifting out the irrational fears from the rational ones.

Once you know where it is that your fears come from and how to deal with them, you’ll become a braver and stronger person. Fear and anxiety can severely hold you back, and taking the steps to gain control over them and no longer allow them to rule your life is a process which will take time, effort and patience – but it will all be worth it in the end.

 

In this book, you’ll learn how to:

Identify the causes of your fears;

Determine which fears are rational and which are not;

Swap your negative thoughts for positive ones;

Challenge yourself to take risks;

Use imagery to alleviate your fears;

Use talking therapy to help you control your emotions, and

Practice daily meditation to reduce stress.

Many fears are a product of your own mind, whether it be going to the den-tist, flying in a plane, or public speaking. Some fears are caused by a bad or even traumatic past experience, whilst others can be the product of in-fluence from other people.

However, no matter how your fears were established, conquering them is entirely possible when you use the right steps and strategies.

Before you begin, it’s vital to understand that you will need to be patient with yourself. Fear is an extremely strong emotion, and the ‘fight or flight’ response generated by chemicals and hormones in the body can lead to different physical responses which can make facing and conquering your fears extremely difficult.

When you decide to conquer your fears, you need to be aware of what this entails – at some point, you will need to face them. Although the prospect of this is initially terrifying for many, by the time you are ready it won’t seem quite as bad. This is why it’s important to be patient with yourself and resolve to take small steps towards achieving your goal of fearlessness.

Being kind to yourself is crucial when you are learning to conquer your fears, although you’ll need to get a healthy balance between self-care and self-motivation. Finding the balance between the two will involve changing your mind-set to include more confidence in yourself and a kinder attitude towards yourself and your feelings. Many of us beat ourselves up for feeling fears that we deem irrational; it’s crucial that you stop doing this and in-stead accept your fears rather than trying to fight them.

Accepting your fears is the crucial first step that you will need to take before trying any of the following strategies. Fighting a mental battle against yourself and your fears can make it significantly more difficult to gain any positive benefits from any of these strategies, which is why learning to be accepting is key. Learning to accept your fears can even create a sense of calm and positivity which you can’t gain from fighting them.

Take a deep breath, and tell yourself that you accept all of your fears – even the ones that you think are silly. Repeat this process as many times as you need throughout your journey to fearlessness!