Fear is a paralyzer and above all, the #1 dream killer. It’s often the main culprit behind most people’s hesitance to chase after their goals and dreams, and shows up in our lives in the form of the following excuses: “I don’t have the money for this right now,” “My life and schedule are extremely demanding at the moment,” “I’ll have to wait more a more opportune time to get started,” “I am not educated or qualified enough to do this,” “I wouldn’t even know where to begin,” and other such excuses. Fear allows us to adamantly support our inability to do one thing or another through the myriad of excuses and reasons we give.

Although most people claim to want a better quality of life for themselves; many retreat and cower away from opportunities that require them to face their fears head-on, leave their comfort zones or take risks on themselves more often than not, in spite of the knowledge and belief that doing so would allow them to create the lives they desire. Many years of conditioning, distorted thinking and limiting beliefs is mainly to blame for this.

I truly believe employing the following 7 tactics can allow us to successfully overcome fear and prevent it from hindering our success in any area of our lives:

7 Simple Tactics We Can All Apply To Overcome The Fear of Failure

1. Understand It Is Normal To Have Fears

Make peace with the fact that it’s inevitable you’ll experience fear whenever you decide to embark on anything unfamiliar or that requires you to embrace the unknown and leave your comfort zone. There’s something absolutely uncomfortable and nerve-wracking about venturing into “unchartered territory” without any assurance of success. Don’t allow this to prevent you from doing whatever you have set out to do and know that you need to do.

2. Acknowledge The Fear Is There

Acknowledge fear as soon as it arises within you and embrace the fact that it is justifiably normal to experience fear whenever you encounter or undertake anything new or challenging or experience setbacks and insecurities along your journey towards success. You will never be able to conquer your fears as long as you continue denying them or try escaping them; know that it is okay to feel afraid and uncertain during any undertaking.

3. Embrace The fear

Embrace fear and turn it into your ally – Allow yourself to sit still with the uncertainty, nerve-wracking emotions and nauseating feelings that fear stirs up within you whenever you experience fear without allowing those feelings to consume and paralyze you thus rendering you helpless altogether. You will often discover that your anxiety will slowly begin to dissipate the less you try to resist those uncomfortable emotions and eventually disappear altogether when you reinforce your commitment to do whatever it is you have set out to do in spite of your fears.

4. Identify & Name Your Fears

Identify and name your fears – Determine exactly what you are afraid of, why you are afraid and whether your fears are realistic or unfounded given the circumstances and situation. Being able to identify the origins and roots of our fears makes it easier for us to understand our feelings and determine ways to either deal with or overcome them.

5. Take Charge

Confront your fears by making an effort to consistently do one thing you are afraid of no matter how trivial your actions might be at the onset. Research has proven that repeated exposure to our fears lowers our psychological response to them making them manageable or erasing them altogether. The more you allow yourself to face your fears, the more you will eventually be able to subdue them and loosen their grip on you.

6. Look For Examples Of Others Overcoming The Same Fear

Speak with someone that is currently doing or has done something similar to what you would like to do but are afraid to and inquire whether they experienced any fears and insecurities during their undertaking and if so, how they were able to successfully handle or overcome them. Any counsel and advice you receive will most likely provide you with the insight and encouragement you need as well as tools you can employ to eventually overcome your own fears.

7. Understand The Fear Is Not Real…

Acknowledge the fact that most of our fears are usually a result of our own over-active imagination and thoughts. It appears the more we allow ourselves to overthink and over-analyze things, the more we magnify our fears as opposed to our ability to overcome them thus rendering ourselves immobile and making things more complicated than they need to be.

Conclusion:

Just like the famous quote, “feel the fear and do it anyway” advises, allow yourself to embrace fear by developing a healthy relationship with it and doing whatever you have to do in spite of it, no matter how big or real your fear might appear to be, making the choice to face your fears and take action is what ultimately curbs our fear and renders them powerless. Self-confidence is definitely fear’s greatest enemy — the more one allows oneself to face his or her fears boldly, the less of a hold it will has on their life. Make the choice today to magnify your power and ability to overcome your fears more than you do your fears themselves.