I hear my clients struggling with different kinds of problems. Some are shy and have difficulties making new friends, some are constantly getting into conflicts, some are staying in destructive relationships or on a job that’s making them miserable, and some are dreaming about their perfect life without making any move towards it. This is just a teeny-tiny portion of all the different struggles my clients are facing. But every one of them is unique to that person’s life situation. However, one thing stands out as the background issue of almost all of the problems I hear about.
It’s fear.
Fear of rejection, fear of uncommon, fear of change, fear of failure. Even I was struggling with anxiety in public-speaking situations, which you can read about HERE. Additionally, many have no clue how to overcome fears, so it can all get pretty messy.
Once you learn to face your fears and stop running away from them, but instead do the thing despite the fact you’re scared, you’ll transform. You’ll discover there are many great opportunities you’re able to catch, you’ll learn to live the life you want and you’ll discover some awesome parts of yourself you maybe didn’t even know existed. Sounds exciting? I agree. But it needs work and effort.
How to overcome your fears?
The first step is to discover and make yourself aware of your fears. The second, and most difficult step, is to face your fears. To let yourself feel the fear, and do the thing you’re scared of anyway. Doing this will help your brain get used to the thing you are scared of, and little by little, it will become less scary. This is what is called “exposure therapy” in Cognitive-behavioural therapy. Only this way, you can come to the third and final step, and that is overcoming your fears and, with that, transforming your life.
This is exactly what Susan Jeffers talks about in her book “Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway”. This book contains tons of enlightening ideas and useful techniques that will help you get out of passivity mode and start working on facing your fears. Additionally, Susan teaches you how to stop negative thinking patterns and start implementing positive thinking into your daily habits. There is much more to this incredible book, so I recommend you start your transformation by reading it.