How to Effectively Disallow Fears from Taking Over

Did you know that fear is debilitating? It can totally ruin your day or even, in some cases, your life! Fear is an emotion, and while sometimes it is very valid and can help preserve your life, there are other times it must be faced and dealt with to be free.

Here are some practical strategies you can use to overcome your fears:

1. Do you know your fears? If you can identify them, you are off to a good start. Can whatever you fear hurt you? Begin to conquer your fears by determining if they are rational or irrational.

• When you fear things that cannot harm you in any way, you are acting with irrational fears. In reality, there is not anything to fear there. But it sure is easier said than done!
• When they can hurt you, then there is justification in your fears. In this case, you can work out a backup plan that affords you some level of comfort.

2. What do other women do? Whatever your fears are, someone else has experienced them as well. Search out women who share your feelings and learn from them.

• For example, are you afraid to fly? You probably know women who have flown. So talk to them about it! It is entirely possible some also had the same fears and overcame them. Ask what steps they took to move beyond this fear.  

3. Tackle your fears! While talking about your fear is a starting point, ultimately, you need to face your fear head-on. You will never get over a fear solely by talking about it. You conquer nothing until you face it.

• Do not tackle your fears alone. Reach out to trusted loved ones for their support. They can help you conquer something that is inhibiting you from having a healthier life.
• Find safe ways to confront your fears. Have a trusted person with you and start by facing scaled-down versions of the things that cause your fears.

4. Alter the ways you see things. Facing your fears is frequently a matter of simply choosing to alter them. We have all heard the phrase mind over matter. Your fears were probably brought about in your mind, and they grew because you fed them more fear.

When you convince yourself that irrational fear is real, do the same in reverse. Countless fears we have are those we have produced for ourselves. The moment something triggers you to become fearful, stop that thinking in its tracks and turn it into something positive in its place.

5. Your best defense is a strong offense! As an alternative to hiding from your fear and creating defenses to keep it away from you, use the things you have read here to build up a way to attack your fear head-on.

• Research your fears and learn about them.
• Please find the best way to destroy it with a direct attack.
• At times, the best approach to beat fear is to accomplish the very things you fear. If you are afraid of taking an elevator, take a close friend with you and ride an elevator. Just one or two floors at a time will help you work on conquering your fears.
• Replicate your experiment until you are not afraid of it anymore.

Certain fears are completely natural, like a fear of getting burned while cooking. You should be a little fearful of burns – they hurt!

These types of fears are normal, perfectly rational fears and are not something you need to fix. Fears can be helpful in many circumstances. However, if fear is controlling your life, you need to face it head-on and conquer it.