What is fear anyway?  In my humble opinion, all fears are hypothetical trepidations of uncertain events or happenings in the future.  It’s simple as that.  Think about it—we are afraid of something that has not yet happened.  We create a situation of what we think my happen to us, and we become fearful of the illusionary outcome.  Is it logical to fear what has not happened?

Fear is the psychological, emotional and physiological response to our thoughts of a situation.  Fear evokes our most basic of all responses: fight or flight.  Some fears, of course, are very healthy. For example, when your safety or well-being is at risk.  But even safety related fears could cause more problems than the problem itself!  Fear can lead to panic, and panic can cloud your mind and paralyze you.  This fear/panic reaction is the downfall of most people in dangerous circumstances and not the result of the situation itself.  People who train themselves to control these fear-based reactions in stressful and dangerous situations are more able to deal with them appropriately.

More commonly, it is the everyday fears of the future that paralyze people into not taking action to move forward with their lives or peruse their dreams.  Some of the more common future related fears are: fear of not being good enough; fear of rejection; fear of failure; fear of being embarrassed; feelings of guilt and fear of being isolated.

We must learn to welcome these fears and face them head on.  Become familiar with what keeps you back, and learn to overcome fear-based reactions by changing your thought processes.  When you are able to do this, you can easily move past fear-based thinking and embrace the future.

Redirecting fears to thoughts of empowerment.

Let’s try a very effective process that many others and myself have used successfully to move past fears. Think of these most common life fears: 

Not being Good Enough: Not necessarily being a failure, but being inadequate and not up to standard.  Some people fear, although accomplishing their tasks, they look bad while doing it.

Not being Accepted (rejection):  A lot of people are afraid of being rejected.  They fear that family, friends and society will discard their ideas, dreams and aspiration as silly or not worthwhile.

Not Succeeding (failure):  Of course, the fear of failing and not being able to do what you set out to accomplish.

Being Embarrassed:  People are in fear of being humiliated.

Guilt:  People feel guilty or are made to feel guilty by those nay-Sayers and un-achievers they are leaving behind.

Being Isolated: The fear of being alone with no support as you venture out of your comfort zone and circle of friends.

When we can place all our fears into several identifiable categories, we can then begin to redirect our mid-set to thoughts of encouragement, empowerment and support.  Let’s take the above six fears and change the way we think about them:

Try changing Not being Good Enough to At Least I’m Doing Something: Change Not being Accepted to I am Unique and Creative: Change Not Succeeding to I am Happy Doing My Best and Trying: Instead of Being Embarrassed; Always Laugh at Yourself First:  Change Feeling Guilty to I’m Deserving of all That Comes My Way:  Transform Feeling Isolated to Being in Transition to a Newer, Better Place. 

This process will work for any and all fears you have associated with future events, whether it is work, family or personal related.  Identify the fear, and simply look at the positive side.  The things you look at will seem different if you change the way you perceive at them.  Change the thoughts of fear and negativity to ones of optimism and success, and watch your life blossom.

Falling prey to self-generated fears will only keep you in a place of frustration and mediocrity.  Change fear-based thinking to feelings of empowerment and self-confidence in your ability to control and create your own destiny.  Know that fears are illusionary and created by thought.  You have the ability to direct you own thinking.  Choosing to face the uncertainty of the future head on with enthusiasm and vigor will propel you past your fears and into a life of happiness and success.