How To Face The Fear (And Enjoy The Ride)

Have you ever stopped yourself from attempting something, travelling somewhere or venturing into the unknown due to fear?

If you have, you're in good company since most people generally feel fear before attempting a new venture or when pushing their comfort zone. 

This feeling often coming from an irrational place, nevertheless it could binds you from venturing further and in fact keeps you stuck in the place where you currently stand. 

Fear can feel paralysing at times. 

there is something about navigating into the area of the unknown that can have an intensely powerful hold. No matter how hard you might resist, the urge to feel this wins hands down.

I was reminded of this recently when I was due to attend an event just outside London and in an area that I was totally unfamiliar with. This bought into my fear of motorways, getting lost and ending up in a one way system which brought on a certain level of anxiety. 

On the one hand I wanted to attempt the journey, yet on the other hand the anxiety of the journey that lay ahead began to take hold. 

Essentially, can we fear, yet still attempt what we fear? 

The answer is an absolutely positive Yes. 

The fear eminates from your thinking which often has a warped view of events. This is then taken seriously, feels emotionally paralysing and clams you up so you don't attempt that which you fear. 

Fear doesn't know anything about the future, it only clocks up information from your past.

The key is to feel the fear, acknowledge it, continue to feel the fear and continue to work past it and into doing the action anyway.

One word of warning, this doesn't apply to dangerous stunts or placing yourself in a dangerous situation. This is about pushing past irrational fears. This might take the form of attempting life changes, facing spiders, driving motorways, facing dogs, storms, etc.  It's about pushing past your comfort zone and into an area not previously navigated into. 

You don't have to wait until the fear goes away to attempt that which you fear.

It's about navigating into the unknown.

The interesting thing is that fears are actually worse when thought about, then when you actually attempt them. 

Think about all those times you wanted to attempt something, and the thoughts brought up more anxiety than when you completed what you feared in the first place. 

Here are 8 basic ways to navigate through fear:

1. Start with Choosing the one fear which gives you the least anxiety.
2. Give it a name.
3. Prepare for facing up to it.
4. Take some deep breaths.
5. Notice how you feel.
6. Allow the fear to emerge, but don't let that determine if you should continue.
7. If there is fear, take a few breaths and carry on if you can.
8. Should you need to stop, make sure you have ventured that bit further than the previous time you tried.
9. Once achieved, give yourself a reward, anything you enjoy would be great.

My experience of working through a fear has been one of a burst of adrenalin rush, one of pure and utter achievement. It's a rush like nothing else. Experiences I would never have dared to attempt before, or felt that I was incapable of achieving have tasted so sweet once I have pushed past the fearful thoughts into doing the action.

If you could push past one fear, what one small thing could you do today? Remember this is about your comfort zone and expanding it that little bit further.