We have all kinds of fears, spiders, talking in public, heights, being alone, dying, etc. It is possible to live around some of them but some other fears may keep you from achieving your life goals and dreams.
Sometimes the idea of a situation itself is far worst than what it is in reality, we make it worst by thinking about all the ways it could go wrong. Some people would say “Don’t think about it and do it!”, for me and possibly many of you, it is not that simple. We just can’t stop thinking about it, it’s just the way we are and that is not going to change in a day. We can’t stop our brain from doing what it does but we always have the choice to act or not. We can also force ourselves to override these bad thoughts with positive ones.
I agree that overcoming a fear is tough, but not only after overcoming it you’ll feel good about yourself, most of the time you’ll also see that it wasn’t even near as scary as you thought it was. It will also make your whole day a lot better, you’ll feel more energetic and have a self-confidance boost. You will also want to overcome more fears.
It can be done progressively too, just start with fears that don’t have much impact on your life and see how it goes. Once you have overcome smaller fears you’ll have the confidence to overcome bigger ones. It’s not a race, just do it at your own rythmn. But don’t make the mistake of waiting until you feel ready because you may never be. Just be attentive to signs and take advantage of these situations to act.
A lot of fears come in part from the need to be accepted and to look good to others. It’s not easy to get through this and stop carring about your image but I can assure you that it’s worth it. The more you stop doing things to impress people, the more you center yourself on the path to be succesful in your own goals and projects. You are the only one living your life so you know what’s good for you, others don’t. I’ll also push as far as to say that even your own parents (who most of the times are the ones who know you best) don’t know what they’re talking about when they tell you how to live your life. As much as I love my parents I sure wouldn’t be writing this now if I had followed their advices. Unlike what you may think now, my parents want the best for me, but if I had listened to them I would have taken the safe path of life and worked a well-paying job that I hate until retirement in 50 years or until I fell deeply into depression and possibly hang myself.
There is some places where it’s better to play safe, like when driving during a snowstorm. But for anything else that doesn’t end up with injury or death, you should take risks, because no matter what’s the outcome, you always learn something.
While reading some articles and click baits on the internet, I came across this sentence about frustration and conflicts: Ask yourself if it will still matter in a month, 3 months, a year, etc. I think that this principle should be applied to pretty much any situation, if you’re hesitating about doing something now and you decide to do it, will it still be important in a month, 3 months, a year, etc?
Yes it will! That’s probably the beginning of an adventure, you should do it.
No, it won’t! There’s not much consequence so do it! It could also be the beginning of an adventure.
Ok I’m NOT telling you to do it for everything: Should I punch [insert name here] in the face? Probably not. But if it can have a positive impact on your life while not harming anybody, you should probably do it. The only acceptable harm would be on someone’s close-mindedness.
If you’re in for a little game, try this:
- Imagine your life as it is right now and extend it for the rest of your life.
- Imagine your dream life (whatever it may be).
- Picture yourself on your deathbed reviewing your life and comparing these two possible destinies.
Does it motivate you to do something with your life? I hope so. So stop giving a s*** about what others think, take risks and live life in a way that will make your future self proud!