Face the Fear and Do It Anyway!
Posted on 16th September 2024 at 12:21
As the saying goes, 'Face The Fear And Do It Anyway,' but, for many, that can be easier said than done.
As human beings, we are more likely to be exposed to fear than we were a decade ago. It can be hard to avoid the 24-hour access to the doom and gloom reported on our televisions, radios, and phone devices that can easily generate feelings of vulnerability, dread, and fear but, for many, worry and fear can play on repeat in our head. So how do we quiet the earworm of fear, dread, and doubt, enabling us to enjoy a more favourable, healthy mind and happier life?
Understanding the power of our words, thoughts, and feelings is a great place to start so read on to find out how your mind can be a much healthier environment to inhabit.
When it comes to making a change of any kind, our thoughts will determine whether we achieve success or failure. Our mind will always favour the familiar over the unfamiliar because change can feel scary. Stepping out of our comfort zone is where the potential for fear awaits so we tend to run away from the unfamiliar and run back to what feels ‘safe’. The most effective way to combat the fear of change is to imagine that change will bring great benefits and rewards.
Did you know that our mind can’t tell the difference between imagination and reality? It has no idea whether we’re about to enter an environment that might feel scary, e.g., a job interview or stepping onto a rollercoaster ride at the funfair, because anxiety and excitement trigger the same physiological response. What determines the activation of the 'fight/flight' stress response vs the 'excitement/thrill' response is the thoughts we think and the pictures we create in our mind as a result of these thoughts and how we respond to them, e.g., “I can’t face a job interview, look what happened last time, I’m not qualified enough, confident enough, good enough, blah blah”.
If we want to reduce/remove our fear of change, we need to change our language. Our words create our reality; “I’m cracking up” “I’ve got no chance” “I’m stressed, anxious, exhausted” etc, are stories we tell ourselves that hold the power to keep us stuck in the ‘comfortable discomfort’ of the fear of change. It’s counterproductive to think of the thoughts we don’t want to feel.
Try this exercise:
When you hear yourself speaking negative thoughts and words in your head or out loud, ‘flip the script’ and replace those words with:
'I can do this'
'I’m ready for positive change'
'I am perfectly capable of managing this'
'I am confident'
'I’ve done it before, I can do it again'
'I’m excited about this'
By changing the narrative, you will be changing your mindset and encouraging positive images that will in turn ‘seed in’ a new way of thinking, believing and behaving, i.e., a new, more favourable habit. We have to be the change to see the change and altering the internal chatter is a great way to start to reduce fear and empower you and your life.
Think of a goal you’d like to achieve. What are your reasons for wanting this goal? How will you feel when you’ve achieved it? What will be the first step you’d need to take towards achieving it? Fill your mind with all the positive thoughts that achieving this goal will bring and notice how it feels in your body and mind.
Give it a go, you’ve nothing to lose and perhaps everything to gain!
Change your words, change the pictures, change your life!
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