What’s stopping you from achieving your dreams? Who has been dragging you away from the steps you need to take to achieve your goals?
You may argue that the answer is circumstances. You may point your finger to other people. You may even blame it on your luck. It is so much easier to put the responsibilities of your circumstances and situations elsewhere. But you should understand that, in order to achieve greatness, you need to take responsibility for your situation. By taking charge of what is going on in your life, you get to be in control.
Stop getting in your own way
We have all heard motivational speeches, read self-help books, encountered endless amounts of motivational posts on the internet. Most of us understand the messages and wisdom we read and hear, but yet, we are still not at where we want to be in life. What is it that is actually missing?
The problem
News flash — your fear is what’s stopping you. You don’t see it, or refuse to see it subconsciously, because it makes you vulnerable. You are afraid of having to deal with the setbacks from your own failures. You think you are afraid of how others might react to your failure, but the truth is that you are afraid of how you will deal with your own failure.
How can you overcome your fear?
- Acknowledge your fear — By acknowledging that you are human and that it is okay to be afraid, you are opening up yourself to accepting the unknown by taking chances. That is the first step in facing your fear.
- Identify your fear — By identifying your fear, you are one step closer to overcoming. With that noted, you can then start looking at the true source of your fear.
- Write down the consequences of giving in to your fear — What happens when you surrender to your fear? How does it feel? What will you lose? Is giving in to your fear worth giving up on your dreams?
- Write down what you will gain from overcoming your fear — How would it feel like to just go right ahead and pursue your goals and dreams? What will you gain from accomplishing your goals and achieving your dreams? What if mistakes and setbacks are the essential steps to get you to your destination?
- Use your past success experience as your reference — Remember a time that you succeeded. What did you do to achieve your goal? What approaches did you use? Who might have helped you along the way? How did it feel when you achieved your goal?
Take baby steps
Have you ever observed a baby who was learning to walk? Did the baby ever worry about falling when he or she attempted to walk?
Babies are not afraid to walk, even though they have never done it before. They will fall, but they get back up and try again. They simply continue doing so until they master walking. It just never crosses their minds that falling is something they should be afraid of. That is why you never see a baby who refuses to walk after a few falls.
Today’s society and our environment has made us slaves to our own egos. We refuse to accept failure because we are afraid of being judged. We weren’t born this way. We can choose to focus our minds and bodies to experience diversity and grow into stronger, tougher individuals.
Take a baby step at a time. As long as you are not quitting, you are still proceeding. And as long as you are still proceeding, you will eventually get to where you want to go. Things won’t always go smoothly, but those challenges will take you to your ultimate destination. Don’t pull back and give in to your fear. Remember that the sky will be clear again after the heavy rain.
Conquer your fear with courage
The only way to conquer your fear is by having the courage to continue pursuing. Stay in action endlessly until your fear subsides. Fear vanishes when you no longer worry about it, and the only way to not worry about it is to push through.
Reflect to yourself when fear is crippling
You can come out with a million reasons and excuses for why something didn’t work out in your life. There’s always a convenient excuse. But if you give in to your fear, what will you gain at the end of the day? Are you achieving what you wanted in your life? Or are you just going to be the victim of your circumstances because you refuse to take charge?
If you must choose to fear, know that the only thing you really should be afraid of is fear itself.
