None of us are strangers to fear. We all experience this unsettling emotion in many aspects of our lives. Certainly, some fears are valid: when confronted with a lion in the jungle, it’s prudent to respond to our survival instinct and start running away.

But, not all fears are created equal and most of the fears we experience on a daily basis are not of a life-or-death nature. Instead, they are fears about our lives – what we’re doing or where we’re going. We may have fear of the unknown, or fear of failure, or fear of success…the list goes on and on if we let it.

These types of fears are natural and while there is usually no imminent danger, our survival instinct often kicks in anyway. If we choose a fight or flight response to these types of fears, we cannot move past them and they keep us stuck in place, unable to create the life we truly want and to fulfill our dreams.

Instead of fighting against the fear or choosing to run away from it, we have to work through it. You have to face your fears so you can process it, understand it, and move beyond it. Of course, that’s easier said than done, but here is a simple system to help you remember how to handle fear.

Feel –>Embrace –>Acknowledge –>Release

Feel the fear: Yes, that’s right, allow yourself to actually feel the emotion. Don’t try to avoid or resist it. While we may not enjoy feeling fear, remember that it is just an emotion – it can’t harm you physically and there is no danger in allowing ourselves to truly feel it. Notice the points in your body where you feel the fear manifesting. Take a few, slow, deep breaths to help you sink into the feeling and allow it just be in your body.

Embrace the fear: As you allow yourself to feel the fear, take a moment to embrace and thank it. That may seem counter-intuitive – why would you want to be thankful for fear? Well, the fact is that all of our emotions are messages for us. Our emotions act as a GPS for our souls telling us whether we’re on the right path, whether we’re in alignment with what we’re doing. So, thank your fear for being here, for sending you a message that can help you navigate your life.

Acknowledge the fear: Now that you can embrace the fear as a helpful message, the next step is to acknowledge the meaning. What is this fear all about? What’s the root cause of it? To understand this, you’ll need to get quiet and ask yourself some key questions:

  • What am I actually afraid of?
  • Why am I afraid of that?
  • Is there a belief or a need that underlies why I’m afraid?
  • Is that belief really mine or someone else’s that I picked up at some point? Is it still true today?

When we contemplate these questions we can usually reveal the fear for what it really is: a limiting belief we’ve been holding onto that we heard from someone else and adopted as our own. We may not even realize we are carrying this belief around until we pause to ask these pertinent questions and contemplate the answers.

Release the fear: As you understand the message in your fear and you unpack its underlying belief, you’ll notice that the emotion starts to dissipate. You’ve diffused the intensity of the fear by facing it head on and processing what it’s all about – typically a belief that is no longer real or true for you. That means you can now start to release the fear and replace it with another emotion or a belief that better serves you. This time, get quiet and ask yourself these questions:

  • Am I ready to release this fear and its underlying belief?
  • What do I want to replace it with? What can be my new unlimiting belief that serves me better?
  • What is my new way of looking at this situation so that I am operating from a more empowered position?

When we use this method to work through our fears we often find that the very thing that was keeping us stuck, playing safe, and hidden, can in fact propel us forward – but only if we actually deal with it. Indeed, it’s the very process of working through the fear that brings us to a new position of strength and clarity. Instead of seeing obstacles in our way, we now see a pathway of possibility.

Start facing your fears today so you can set yourself free to follow your dreams and desires.

What fears are you facing or what fears have you overcome recently? Please let me know by sharing your comments below or on my Facebook page.

With gratitude,

Alex

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