Fear is a feeling that is common to all human beings. It’s a natural reaction to the unknown in the imagined, and it can be an instinctual response to danger. We use the phrase ‘fear of’ to describe an emotion often associated with a particular thing or situation. E.g. fear of flying, fear of spiders. What does it mean to be free from fear? That’s not a simple answer. It often means overcoming the fear of the unknown, the fear of what might happen, the fear of the past or the fear of what others may think.

What is Fear?
Do you remember the last time you felt fear? Were you being chased, in a fight or was it the fear of trying something new and failing? I do! Recently when I decided to become more visible on social media and create blogs, consistently for the first time in years!
Why? Because I was anxious about being judged, what others may think of me. Sure! I have been in the personal development field for decades and I know most of the theories. However, that instictual reaction can still make it’s presence known.
Fear is an instinctual reaction to the unknown. It causes your adrenaline levels to rise. This increases the heart rate and makes your brain frantically search for the what-ifs.
So the feeling of fear is completely natural as it is a response to the unknown.
How do you overcome the fear of the unknown?
Ask Different Questions.
Not the type of questions that will take you down the rabbit hole of further fear. E.g This will not work? What will people think? If this does not work I am a failure?
Instead ask questions that will cause you to explore the situation form a different persepctive:
- What do I know about the situation?
- What’s at stake here?
- What is the worst that can happen?
- What if I’m wrong?
- What if I’m right?
- What’s the worst that can happen if I’m right?
Focus on the solution
Focusing on the solution can relieve some of the feelings of fear.
Frequently we are focused on everything that can go wrong within this situation. That’s what creates fear instead of focusing on what could go right and what could work. Yes, it’s healthy to look at the obstacles, but if all you are looking at is the obstacles, you will constantly be battling against what you have created in your head.
Listening to the reason for being afraid.
When you truly begin to listen to what you are saying to yourself, hearing from an objective place instead of subjective, you begin to see things from a different perspective.
When I started to listen to the reasons for my fear of being more visible, I had to weigh it against the reason for wanting to be more visible. My mission and passion to draw out the briliance in people to live a life they have yet to imaging beat the thoughts and feelings of fear I was experiencing. As such, I gained greater clarity about the situation and why I was having fearful thoughts.

What Does it Mean to be Free from Fear?
That’s not an easy answer. As we have seen, fear is natural, instinctive and plays a role within our lives to protect us. So the issue is not to be free of fear but more be mindful your life is not governed by fear!
It can be rewarding to look at the freedom you’ve gained because the fear was no longer holding you back from the life you want to live. Also, with freedom comes responsibility because now you know where your fear comes from, so now you have more agency and responsibility for your own life.
Want to learn how to be free from the control of fear? Click the link to download a free video series.
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