Is Fear a Friend or a Foe?
Borrowing the words from the famous French chemist Marie Curie,
"Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood."
And how true it is. Fear is a very tricky subject to address.
Often, fear hinder people from becoming what they are destined
to be and from achieving the success they most definitely
deserve.
Foremost, there is belief and it is one of the keys to attaining
success - belief in what you do, belief in the people
surrounding you, and above all, belief in yourself. Belief is
like life purpose, and there are only two things, it is either
you have it or you don't.
The number one enemy of empowering belief is none other than
fear. Fear paralyzes people in their pursuit of personal purpose
and greatness. Fear of what? Well, it could be anything - fear
of the unknown, fear of failure, fear of losing or being beaten,
fear of poverty, fear of criticism, and even fear of success,
even if it sounds a bit crazy it does exist.
Choosing fear over empowering belief is nothing different from
choosing to lead a life of unrealized dreams and unfulfilled
goals. And in order to reach one's goals, it is important to
learn to conquer one's fears.
No fear is the elusive key to success.
The Fear of the Unknown
Man's history dictates that before people get into anything,
they had to know what would happen. Some sort of a subconscious
"Safety First" check. Eventually, this evolved into the fear of
the unknown.
The fear of the unknown is the result of people's desire to
avoid risks. Risks mean anxiety. To reduce anxiety, people
simply avoid the unknown.
Confronting the unknown means that you are accepting the
challenge that the unknown holds. With self-discipline and
genuine belief in oneself, this challenge of facing one's fear
of the unknown is indeed conquerable.
The Fear of Failure
In this day and age in human society when tremendous stress is
given on success, successful people are taken as winners while
people feel sorry for losers who cannot get ahead in their life.
The surest way to conquer one's fear of failure is to overhaul
your perspective and understanding of the value of what people
usually call as "failure."
Failure and success are just two of those things people make up
- a simple matter of perspective. So, instead of looking at you
failures and shortcomings, try backwards motivation. Acknowledge
your successes and not dwell on your losses.
Get into the habit of defining each of your actions and their
results as successful. Success is a habit that is learned by
repetition. It is something that you do over and over and over
until you do it without thinking.
Failing is something that people need to learn. Everyone gets
his or her fair share of failures. The major problem sets in
when the person lets this failure mark him and scar him from
attempting and pursuing new ventures.
How do you intend to conquer this fears that have paralyzed you
from realizing your real worth? These might help you.
1. Avoid setting unrealistic expectations. Every now and then,
people aspire to be unique in some way, or get ahead over
others. Accept that it is very unlikely for one person to be
better than all the rest of the world's billions of population.
If you feel strongly that you have to be better than someone
else over bettering and improving your own, you are doomed to be
a constant failure. Having someone better than you come along is
inevitable.
3. Overcome pressure. When people start to feel pressured, they
get nervous and anxious then tighten up. This will not do you
any good. The best thing to do is to shake off the pressure, and
put your gears on to prove that you are above any pressure and
is all set and ready to claim that success you so deserve.
4. Do not blow up problems out of proportion. Learn to cope. Not
giving up is of a vital importance. Learn to fail well. Don't
let one rejection disappointment or failure stop you from going
after that goal.
It is all up to you. You can take fear as a foe and let it
overpower you. Or you can treat it as a friend and as an ally to
achieve success.