We’re always told to face our fears, but what we’re not often told is how exactly we’re supposed to go about doing that. Crushing those little voices of doubt can be more challenging than we could ever imagine. Breaking the powerful grip and cycle of fear needs to be met head on with strategic methods that can dissipate and dissolve what it is that’s confining you or holding you back.
Coping with fear means learning how to alter your thoughts and push through those barriers. To help you overcome your fear and prevent it from holding you back in life, here are some proven methods that can help you tame and ignore those little voices of doubt.
Create A Character To Symbolize Your Fear
By creating a character and putting a face and a name to your fear, you can begin to better understand and control it. You can choose any type of character that feels accurate in representing your fear – an animal or even a TV character, for example.
It’s important to understand that fear comes from an instinctual area of the brain that’s responsible for warding off danger – our fight or flight reactions. But it can’t necessarily recognize our rational fears (like being chased by a bear) from irrational fears (like being afraid of small spaces). By doing this simple exercise, you can begin to distinguish between the two. Giving your fear an identity allows you to understand more about what it is and how you can control it.
Write Down Your Worst Case Scenarios
Our thoughts have a tendency to jump to our worst case scenarios, even if they have or never will happen. So if you find that you’re fearful of something in particular, write down the worst case scenarios that you have conjured up in your mind. By doing this, you can help to extinguish your thoughts and recognize the reality of them, along with the unlikelihood of them actually occurring. Most people realize when they pinpoint their worst case scenarios that they're really not that bad at all.
Don’t Get Paralyzed By Fear
Coping with fear is important so that you don’t end up being paralyzed by it. Fearful thoughts can be immensely powerful at taking control of both your body and mind, causing a vicious cycle that can be difficult to break away from. However, taking even the slightest baby steps to overcome it can amount to massive change overtime. It's all about moving forward, one step at a time to gradually pull yourself out of that paralyzed state.
Ask For Help
Sometimes, tackling fear can be far too challenging to combat on your own. So it’s important to place your pride aside and reach out for help when you feel as though your fear is taking control. Seeking guidance from a therapist, talking to a friend or family member, or joining a support network are some excellent and effective ways to break down those barriers that are confining you.
If you’re ready to talk to a therapist, you can reach out to us at ---------. We’re here to help you gain back control and start living life on your own terms.