Answer:
One of the most important things you can do to combat fear and be braver in your life is to pay attention to what is going on for you right now. Rather than try to escape to a better place, or replace a bad feeling with a good feeling, just let yourself be for a while and see how it feels to experience your entire human experience – good and bad.
1) Take stock of where you are right now
- One of the most important things you can do to combat fear and be braver in your life is to pay attention to what is going on for you right now.
Rather than try to escape to a better place, or replace a bad feeling with a good feeling, just let yourself be for a while and see how it feels to experience your entire human experience – good and bad.
Acknowledging where you are gives you a good reminder that you’ve probably come through much worse and are better for it.
2) Acknowledge your fears
- Let’s get this straight: bravery isn’t the absence of fear but the ability to move on despite it.
Too many people believe the opposite and think that the best way to move on from your fear is to shut it out, ignore that it exists, and pretend that it’s not happening.
It’s an unhealthy way to deal with your fears, and it doesn’t help you in the long run.
Hiding from your feelings makes the object of fear seem more massive and elusive. The first step, then, is to acknowledge your fears and accept that they exist.
Nobody said you can’t be afraid. Be afraid. Admit that you are afraid. Some of the bravest things you’ll do in your lifetime require fear in order for you to rise above.
When your back is against the wall, incredible things can happen. Don’t let the fear stop you. And don’t try to stop the fear.
3) Study your fear
- At one point in our lives, we are going to be afraid of doing something because we worry about the consequences. Maybe it’s going to graduate school; maybe it’s moving to a new place.
These significant life changes are often scary because we never know what’s waiting on the other side.
You can’t look into the future, but you can always prepare for it. Most of our fears are rooted in instability and uncertainty. Studying what you’re afraid of trains your brain to anticipate the event positively. This makes the fear more familiar and less intimidating.
When doing some thinking about your fear, ask yourself what you are afraid of? Be real and honest with yourself.
Nobody else needs to know. Don’t try to trick yourself into not being afraid.
Dig down deep to figure out what you are worried about: it’s likely something that has nothing to do with you and everything to do with how people will perceive you for doing the thing you want to do.
4) Take responsibility
- The best way to be brave is to take ultimate responsibility for everything in your life.
I know that bad things happen in life and they’re not always your fault.
But it takes a lot of bravery to accept that you are ultimately responsible for everything that happens in your life. While you can’t always prevent bad things from happening, you are in complete control as to how you respond to them.
Because the reality is that YOU are ultimately responsible for everything, including for your happiness and unhappiness, successes and failures, and for how you respond to your challenges.
5) Find ways to control it
- As you become more and more comfortable with your object of fear, it becomes more manageable.
No longer is it the abstract and intangible thing that you once dreaded–it’s now something that you can specify, understand, and eventually, control.
Again, bravery is all about functioning despite your fear.
The key to learning how to be brave is by slowly realizing that there are elements of it that you can control.
For example, if you are afraid of driving, control your fear of accidents by educating yourself with safe driving techniques. You can also install several safety devices on your vehicle to make yourself feel more secure.
It’s never been about making the fear disappear; you take the fear for what it is and turn it into something that you can manage.
