How to Master Your Fears

Did you know that perhaps the greatest challenge you will ever face in
life is the conquest of fear and the development of courage?

Fear is, and always has been, the greatest enemy of mankind. When
Franklin D. Roosevelt said, "The only thing we have to fear is fear
itself," he was saying that the emotion of fear, rather than the
reality of what we fear, is what causes us anxiety, stress, and
unhappiness.

When you develop the habit of courage and unshakeable self-confidence, a
whole new world of possibilities opens up for you. Just imagine-what
would you dare to dream or be or do if you weren't afraid of anything
in the whole world?

Develop the Habit of Courage

Fortunately, the habit of courage can be learned just as any other
habit is learned, through repetition. We need to constantly face and
overcome our fears to build up the kind of courage that will enable us
to deal with the inevitable ups and downs of life unafraid. The
starting point in overcoming fear and developing courage is to look at
the factors that
predispose us toward being afraid. The root source of most fear is
childhood conditioning, usually associated with destructive criticism.
This causes us to develop two major types of fear. These are the fear
of failure, which causes us to think "I can't, I can't, I can't," and
the fear of rejection, which causes us to think "I have to, I have to,
I
have to." Our fears can paralyze us, keeping us from taking constructive
action in the direction of our dreams and goals.

The More You Know, the Less You Fear

Fear is also caused by ignorance. When we have limited information, our
doubts dominate us. We become tense and insecure about the outcome of
our actions. Ignorance causes us to fear change, to fear the unknown,
and to avoid trying anything new or different. But the reverse is also
true. The very act of gathering more and better information about a
particular subject increases our courage and confidence in that area.
You can see this in the parts of your life where you have no fear at
all because you know what you are doing. You feel competent and
completely capable of handling whatever happens.

Analyze Your Fears

Once you have identified the major factors that cause you to feel
afraid, the next step is to objectively define and analyze your
personal fears. At the top of a clean sheet of paper, write, "What am
I afraid of?" Remember, all intelligent people are afraid of
something. It is
normal and natural to be concerned about your physical, emotional, and
financial safety and that of the people you care about. A courageous
person is not a person who is unafraid. As Mark Twain said, "Courage
is resistance to fear, mastery of fear-not absence of fear."

Action Exercise

Begin your list of fears by writing down everything, major and minor,
that causes fear, stress, or anxiety. Think about the parts of your
work or personal life where your fears might be holding you back or
forcing you to stay in a job or relationship in which you are not
happy. Once you have written down your fears, arrange them in order of
importance, and then pick them apart one by one.

To conquering your fears,

Brian Tracy

Brought to you by: Lawyer Asad