Hey there. Fear is a liar. It’s loud, convincing, and it loves to creep into every thought when you’re trying to grow. But here’s the truth I’ve come to realize. Fear might always be there, but it doesn’t get to be in control. I’ve spent most of my life letting fear hold me back, whether it was fear of failure, rejection, or just the unknown. But I made a decision to change how I respond to it.
Fear shows up in different ways for all of us. Sometimes it sounds like logic. Sometimes it sounds like your own voice telling you that you’re not good enough or that you’ll fail if you try. But when you really start to question it, you’ll notice something. Those thoughts didn’t start with you. Somewhere along the way, you heard them enough that they became your internal dialogue. And once you realize that, you can start separating who you are from the fear you’ve been living with.
I’ve found that fear thrives when we’re stuck in our heads. We wait for the fear to go away so we can finally move forward. But it doesn’t work like that. If you wait for fear to disappear, you’ll be waiting forever. What actually works is taking action in spite of it. That first step doesn’t have to be huge. It might be a small shift in mindset. It might be one small decision. But that tiny bit of movement starts to break fear’s grip.
And when fear gets triggered, because it still will, the best thing you can do is step back and observe it. Ask yourself what you’re really feeling. Get specific. Is it fear of failing? Fear of judgment? Fear of not being good enough? Name it. Because once you name it, it has less power. And when you take action anyway, even with fear sitting in the passenger seat, you build confidence.
I’ve also realized that fear and excitement feel very similar. The physical sensations are almost the same. The only difference is the story you tell yourself about what those feelings mean. That’s why it’s so important to step outside of your thoughts and really ask yourself if the fear you’re feeling is actually true.
So the next time fear shows up, don’t wait for it to go away. Take one step. You don’t have to go from A to Z. Just go from A to A-one. Then A-one to A-two. Bit by bit, fear starts to lose its grip, and you start to build momentum. You get to choose how you respond, and that choice changes everything.
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