Fear is a instinct we are born with, and that's supposed to be a good thing. The human brain has two fear mechanisms. One makes us fight or take flight. The other makes us think things over before we act.
We have not changed much biology in millions of years, but our environment has completely changed. Millions of years ago, we walked amongst our predators and had to defend ourselves. Our "fight or flight" mechanisms would have been much more active as we were living amongst predators.
Today, we rarely experience "fight or flight" situations anymore, but the fear mechanism that gives us this adrenalin rush is still waiting to be triggered. Sometimes people will look for …show more content…
situations where they can experience fight or flight. They do things like bungee jumping, sky diving, extreme sports, taking drugs, being promiscuous.
For most people who don't get up to such dangerous acts, there's always a low level background fear hovering in the background.
It compensates for the "act before thinking" fear.
In extreme cases, people are afraid to go out in public. There are people who haven't left their homes in years due to an irrational fear of everything.
Most people don't suffer these extremes, but the low level fear hovering in the background can stop people from taking action and stir other negative emotions such as anxiety, depression, a lack of self confidence and worth.
We must learn to not allow this fear to control our lives. It's impossible to achieve our dreams if we don't. We will always be stuck in the rut of our comfort zones. And you know exactly where that road leads.
You can begin to control fear by being conscious of it when it arises. Knowing that you're feeling fear in the present moment will make you less fearful. For example, I still get nervous when I'm calling prospects for the first time, but as soon as I become conscious of it, my anxiety level
drops.
Here's one of the most insightful lessons I've learned about controlling fear: Fear is always for something that might happen, it's never for something that is actually happening right now.
One of the best acronyms I've heard for fear is:
False
Expectations
Appearing
Real
You can take control of fear by reducing the level of negativity you encounter everyday. For example, switching off the news will dramatically reduce the number of negative inputs you experience daily.
Think about the reason why you're pursuing success. Visualise yourself in to moment your dreams become real.