There was a time a friend told me about an opportunity he missed because of fear. There was a job vacancy that was announced, but he kept telling himself that he was not good enough. Out of the fear of rejection, he did not even bother applying for the job. He got to find out that the person they later took for the job did not even have as much qualifications as he did. He missed out of the job because he allowed fear to make the decision for him. He did not even attempt, but he already concluded that he was not going to be taken. This was out of the fear of rejection. This is why you do not have to allow fear to becloud your sense of judgement to the point that it begins to make decisions for you.
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It is true that fear is a natural emotion of humans. At least everyone experiences it at some point in their life. More so, fear can warn you of impending danger, so that you can be more careful. However, when fear begins to control your decisions, it will become dangerous. You will be surprised how lots of people miss opportunities on a daily basis, or delay their goals, or even remain stuck at the same spot, simply because they have allowed fear to control them.
Most times, fear does not come out openly and plainly to announce its presence. It can present in form of doubt and hesitation. You will see yourself start thinking like this; "what if you take this step and it does not turn out as expected?" "What if people laugh at you if you fail?" What if you do not have what it takes to perform the task?" These thoughts may look harmless at the start, but they can become powerful enough to stop the person from trying at all. Instead of moving forward, it will cause them to remain at the same position, or at the place where they are because it feels safe. But what they fail to understand is that safety does not always equal to growth.
A very common fear that a lot of people experience is the fear of failure. It makes people to avoid taking actions because they are afraid of making mistakes or experiencing disappointment. But this also excludes them from growth. That you failed does not mean that your life has ended, neither does it mean that you are a failure, rather it is still part of the growth process. A lot of the successful people you know have also experienced one form of setback, or moments or uncertainty, or even challenges in the past. What makes the difference is that they did not allow fear to make them to stop completely. Rather they learnt and then kept moving.
Apart from the fear of failure, some people also have the fear of judgement. That is, they live their life worrying too much about what other people will think of them. They avoid starting new things, or speaking up, or even to express their ideas because of fear of criticism. But what they fail to understand is that when they constantly live based on what people will say, they will not maximise fully their own lives. This is why you have to learn to act even when not everyone approves of it.
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Fear also has a way of creating procrastination. Sometimes, people tend to delay important tasks because fear makes them look overwhelming. Instead of starting, they keep postponing it in the bid to find the "perfect time" or a better condition. But in more cases than not, waiting just increases fear and does not reduce it. If you want fear to be weakened, then you have to learn to take quick and prompt actions.
To overcome fear, you have to have a change of mindset. That is, instead of focusing on what could go wrong or on the negative side of what could be, it will be better to focus on the positive side, and on what could go right. Have the courage to take actions. Courage does not mean that the fear is nonexistent, rather it means that you take actions irrespective of fear. A lot of the brave people you know are not without fears, rather they refuse to allow their fear to control them. So do not allow fear to make decisions for you.
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