I had an interesting conversation with one of my adult sons the other day. We were discussing what makes people stagnate and not take action when clear and positive actions are provided to them. The conclusion was that more often than not it is fear. Fear of failure is probably the single most common reason that 95% of the great ideas that people come up with never make it to fruition. I know that even for me, there have been many things I’ve been hesitant about that could have improved my life or my situation at any given time, but I couldn’t find the courage to just move forward. So, here are a few tips that helped me to finally start taking action and to overcome the fear.
Take Small Bites
I really love that old adage: “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time!”. For me that is such sage advice for life that it should be taught to everyone starting in elementary school! Once of the biggest reason fear becomes such a controlling factor is that we look at change as a HUGE process instead of just focusing on the little steps we can make toward the desired end. Take starting a blog as an example. I spent a lot of time thinking about what I would write about. What would people think about my writing? How would I build up enough articles so it wouldn’t be boring? What about a website? What should I name it? All of that thinking and all of those questions got me exactly nowhere. I spent a lot of time questioning and being afraid of failure and no time learning. Ultimately, it was Wealthy Affiliates that helped me to move past the fear and into action. By associating with a community of people who were all in the same place I was, I didn’t feel so vulnerable to failing. More importantly, the training modules helped me break the process down into one small bite at a time. Each lesson completed helped me shed a little more fear, make a little more progress and build a little more confidence in my own abilities.
Reach Out to Others
I may start to sound like a broken record here but once again, it was Wealthy Affiliates to the rescue for me here. There are literally thousands of members on Wealthy Affiliates from all over the world. Fortunately, there are also some of the most friendly, encouraging and supportive people I’ve ever met. Having a ready resource to rely on with questions, concerns or even just to vent frustrations does wonders for alleviating fear. When you know that there are people around who understand what your trying to do, have been where you are and who are willing to help you be successful, the fear of failure tends to just ease away. Even if your goal isn’t building a website, finding a community of like-minded people is a must do for getting over fear and making any progress.
Find Your Why
Not to sound like a cliché but finding your WHY? Is the ultimate weapon against the paralysis of fear. Just about every self-help guru, book or program these days will in some way incorporate the process of finding your why and the reason is simple. For every individual person, there is at least one thing that will cause you to move. For some people it’s a health scare. For others the fear of homelessness. For some others it could be loneliness, hunger or even boredom. But somewhere in each of us there is at least one trigger that when activated will set you in unstoppable motion. A big step toward getting over fear is finding that trigger and plastering it all over the walls, literally. Make a poster and put it somewhere that you’ll see every day that says, “This is My Why!” Use a picture or words or whatever makes it clear and real to you. And every time you feel like fear has you stuck, look at it and remember that there is a reason to keep going.
Hopefully this helps you to overcome whatever is holding you back. It isn’t easy or simple and definitely takes practice, but I know you can do it if you set your mind to it. We were all designed for greatness but it’s up to us to realize that purpose through our actions and achievements.
If you have other tips about ways you’ve been able to overcome fear, leave them in the comments below. Maybe you’ll be the help that someone else reading this article will need.
