Two Steps to Banish Fear
One of my greatest fears used to be the fear of running out of money. I remember once when I was certain I was running out of money and didn’t know how I was going to get through this. I sat in fear and worry, not doing anything but ruminating on all the doomsday scenarios of having to pack up my kids and move back in with my parents. I spent 3 days imagining worst case scenarios, eating cookies, and binge watching NetFlix, waiting for the worst to happen.
I felt powerless and paralyzed. I had a flash of inspiration to just do something. I couldn’t bring myself to deal with my money problems, but I could manage to get up long enough to grab my shoes and take my dogs for a walk. On that walk, I had a flash of inspiration, “Check PayPal.”
This was a random thought because I rarely use my PayPal account, but the impulse was so strong, I hurried back home and logged in to check PayPal before I even took the dogs’ leashes off.
There it was. Sitting in my PayPal account, $1,182 that I had no idea was there. I felt this immediate and overwhelming sense of relief. I was going to be okay.
What I realized afterward was that I was ALWAYS okay. The money was already there. I was sitting in fear and anguish for days with the money already in my bank account. I just couldn’t see it because I was so caught up in the fear and worry.
Days of my life needlessly wasted because of something I had created in my imagination. But that’s what fear does. It disempowers us. When fear has got you in its grips, it keeps you stuck right where you are. It prevents us from seeing the truth in any situation.
That’s why David Schwartz says “Fear is success enemy number one” in The Magic of Thinking Big.
The mistake I see many people make when they are in the grips of fear is trying to wait it out. As if the fear will just magically dissipate and they’ll wake up confident and eager one morning.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t work like that. Fear feeds on indecision and inactivity. I worked with a client once who had been wanting to start his own business for nearly 30 years, but didn’t feel “ready” yet. He had allowed his fear to control his life for 30 years!
Two Steps to Banish Fear
How do you break this cycle? It’s actually simple: take action.
Action is the antidote for fear. Taking action tells your subconscious mind you are serious about where you are going, and takes your attention off the fear. By getting into motion, you begin to see your situation AND yourself differently. You develop confidence.
Step 1: Clearly identify the fear you’re facing. In my case, it was running out of money. For my client, it was fear of having his wife see him fail. For other people, its the fear of being seen.
Step 2: Take decisive action in the direction of your goal. It really doesn’t matter that much what the action is you take. Even a baby step is fine. Just something to get you moving, which will allow you to break free of the grip of fear. For me, the simple act of walking my dogs was enough to shake free of fear.
After that action is complete, revel in the satisfaction of knowing you are a force to be reckoned with. Fear will not derail you. You can release it back into the nothingness from whence it came.
Over time, as you take action despite your fear, you’ll start to have more confidence and trust in yourself as someone who can handle whatever life throws your way. Your truly magnificent self will be allowed to shine through.