How to control your fear

Fear is one of the most basic and important feelings that occur in response to a danger or a risk that can be real or sometimes irrational, it’s a part of our humanity and it will always be with us. We only have to make sure that this feeling stays under control and not affect our physical and psychological health.

There is no such thing as “fearless people”, there are only normal people who made an effort to understand their fears, to control them and to live in peace with them, and you are completely able to do the same thing. Let’s see some of the most efficient ways to start dealing with your fear.

It is completely natural to be afraid

The first thing to do is to make things clear to yourself about fear. You have to convince yourself that fear is something natural and it’s OK to be afraid. You have to admit that all the people around you whom you think they are fearless, are just like you and are experiencing fear but they took control of it, the same way we should do with all of our emotions.

Identify your fears

One of the causes of losing control on our fear emotions is the fact that we don’t really know the reason why we are afraid. You need to have a clear idea about the reasons behind your fear, about what you are exactly afraid of, is it fear of someone? Is it fear of failure? Is it fear of the unknown future? Etc. By being specific, you are leaving your enemy –which is fear- without its invisibility cloak, and you are now able to see it and to beat it.

Don’t amplify your fear by being afraid of fear itself

Maybe it sounds a little bit complicated, but it’s not. It is simple, for example you are new in a work office, you just got the job you always dreamed of, but suddenly you started suffering from fear of making mistakes and you want to always do your work perfectly and prove you are worthy of your job.

This fear can be easily controlled, by admitting that humans aren’t perfect and that making an error doesn't mean you are not worthy, and in most cases, mistakes can be corrected… but things get messy when you are actually having the fear of your colleagues or your boss discovering that you are not a confident person and you are so scared of making mistakes. You are actually afraid of the embarrassment. So in this case, you have to start with overcoming the second fear before thinking about controlling your first one.

Increase your self –confidence

You need to drain the power to face your fear from your self-confidence. The more you are a confident person, the more you are able to walk side by side with your fear and not having a problem with it, and the more you will have motivation and bravery to free yourself from it. One of the best ways to increase your self-confidence and overcome fear in the same time is practicing sports. How to increase your self-confidence

Reduce your stress levels

If you are suffering from high levels of stress, you are physically and mentally in your most vulnerable states to your fears, especially irrational ones. Managing stress will make you a healthier person able to control all kind of emotions and feelings.

Talk about your fear

We all know that talking about how we feel and expressing our emotions makes us feel better. It’s the same thing about fear; you shouldn’t be embarrassed to talk about it. Discussing your fear will make you more confident and sometimes you can learn from other people fear experiences or they can give you useful advice and support you. Even the act of writing down your story with fear in a forum with a pseudo name can help you feel relieved.

Be patient

Sometimes you can overcome your fear in one day, and sometimes it will take years. You need to be patient and don’t wait for instant results to your efforts. Other ways you will always stay stuck in the loop of losing hope and letting down yourself. Taking control of fear takes time; you have to look at it like a project, a project of self-improvement.