What are some of the fears that are holding you back from new experiences?
Having certain fears is a very natural part of what makes us human. In fact, contrary to what many of us believe, fear is not necessarily a negative aspect of our existence. It is, after all, how we manage to identify potential threats and keep ourselves safe from harmful situations. However, one detail about fear that we often fail to acknowledge is that WE are responsible for deciding what we have mentally registered as a threat.
Your brain is highly gullible when it comes to the thoughts you regularly feed it and it will believe anything to be a threat, if repeatedly told so. This means that if you happen to be a person with a fear of public speaking, you have the power to make your body respond to the idea of giving a public speech in the same way it would respond to being chased by a tiger. Your anxiety levels will escalate and limit your ability to function efficiently.
So what is it that creates fear in our mind?
Some reasons we may develop certain fears is due to a traumatic experience ourselves, or if we witness someone undergo harm in a certain situation. These incidents lead the amygdala (a small almond shaped gland in the brain) to register this situation as one of danger.
So what are some techniques to overcome this?
Exposure therapy is a very effective method amongst psychologists to convince the brain that there is nothing to be scared of in a certain situation. This requires you to take the leap and push yourself to take part in the feared activity as much as possible. Once the mind has failed to experience any negative outcomes, it will no longer see it as something it needs to protect us from.
However, if you feel that you aren’t quite ready to throw yourself into the deep end and face your fears just yet, you can start by simply focusing on your thinking.
Actively changing our thoughts when it comes to certain fears is a crucial step in overcoming them. Think about an irrational fear you may have. Now think about what kinds of thoughts usually go through your head when you are reminded of this situation. Chances are that these thoughts are highly negative and involve all of the possible worst case scenarios that could result from your taking part in this particular activity.
Now try this…refocus your attention to the positive aspects of this activity rather than the dangers of it. Focus on people who are managing to go through this and come out successful and clearly unharmed. Expose yourself to as many of these success stories as possible. This sounds extremely simple in theory but many of us severely underestimate the level of impact our frequent thoughts have on our subconscious mind.
Fears are nothing more than problematic thinking processes that need to be fixed. This means that it is something that is entirely within our control. When we frequently give into negative thought processes, we are consciously restricting ourselves from developing new skills and any kind of self improvement or growth.
Next time you are trying to muster the courage to do something that you have always been afraid of, remind yourself that this fear is INSIDE your mind, rather than anything external. Remember that you control your mind, rather than your mind controlling you. Actively change your thoughts and you will soon realise that you have managed to trick your brain into overcoming a fear you thought you would be stuck with forever!
