Conquering Fear: Turning Hesitation into Empowerment

How many times has hesitation from fear dominated the decision-making process?

Fear is a human instinct and one of the most powerful and impactful. It’s completely normal and often a guttural reaction. It works to ensure our survival but also inhibits our actions.

Fear can cause you to freeze physically, emotionally, and spiritually in this journey. Fear can act as a barrier to success. It can prevent you from stepping out of your comfort zone and stop you from taking the necessary risks to achieve your dreams.

Fear can affect our relations, our careers, and even ourselves.

Fear of change.

Fear of acceptance.

Fear of failure.

Fear, too, will grow just like anything that’s given space.

Acknowledging fear, understanding its source, changing perspectives, and taking action can greatly reduce its impact. It's a step towards progress and empowerment, even if it's just a few fears.

Change:

Without change, I mean, what’s the purpose?

Staying stagnant isn’t living. Habits can be good, but switching it up or trying something new lends to experiences and raison d’être.

Acceptance:

From birth, humans desire acceptance. But real acceptance comes from within. Embracing all aspects of being human, including strengths and weaknesses. Self-acceptance is independent of external opinions. Belief in individual worth can help to lessen fearful situations. Having the confidence to know your value doesn’t lessen from having tried will help with resiliency.

Failure:

A natural part of the growth process, failure is a possible outcome of doing anything. You can miss a step and fail at walking up the stairs. And after you catch yourself, are you upset at yourself for not doing it properly?

Sure, you might be frazzled that the slip caught you off guard, but after you realize you’re still intact, you take the next step a little more focused.

“Develop success from failure. Discouragement and failure are two of the surest stepping stones to success.” – Dale Carnegie

Failure is just that. A stumble on the journey. Some failures need more reflection than a quick pause; some might require deep analysis or redirection. Keeping a positive mindset in the regrouping process will help with personal reflection and readjustments needed to try again.

Embracing our imperfections and limitations is essential to living an authentic human experience and helps us to accept fear in any situation more effectively. Greater self-compassion, appreciation for growth, and taking small steps toward confronting fears can lead to a significantly more fulfilling life.

If not recognized and controlled, fear can affect the nervous system and lead to serious physical and mental illness. Managing fear with mindfulness and growth intent will help to see that it’s all made up, that it’s often a product of your thoughts rather than external reality, and that it’s just you holding you back.