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7 Things I’ve Learned About Fear

Written by: Lorraine Cohen

Article Overview: Learn 7 things that will help you to think about and look at fear.

7 Things I’ve Learned About Fear

Is fear keeping you from having the business success and personal happiness you desire? You might be feeling angry and frustrated with yourself because you’re not where you want to be in life. The
inner conflict that comes from wanting to move forward and holding yourself back can be painful.

I’ve been on a mission to help people overcome and transform their fears so that they fulfill their dreams and desires.

On my journey with fear, I have realized several things:

1. We scare ourselves all the time. When no apparent danger is evident, our minds conjure up stories that we believe to be true. What ifs, worse case scenarios, anticipated outcomes that rarely ever happen unless we are intent in creating them!

2. When feeling fear, our thoughts are focused on the future. When feeling pain, we are recreating the past. We are not living in the present which is the only place that is NOW.

3. Emotions such as anger cover up fear. Why? We feel more powerfull in our anger than we do in our fear. Other emotions include depression, grief, and blame.

4. We sabotage ourselves when we feel frightened. Procrastination, rationalizations, avoidance, tolerating things, making excuses, being controlling, becoming aggressive or submissive… are some examples of how fear misdirects us from our dreams and desires.

5. Fear can be a motivator or a barrier. Fear can ignite action or become a roadblock. We choose which it will be. We can become the hero of our life or a victim of circumstances.

6. Fears are transformed by love and faith. We can learn to rewrite the tapes we play in our minds so that the messages we tell ourselves feed us rather than deplete us.

7. Fear has a positive value. If we were completely fearless and lacked caution, we might place ourselves in harm’s way, make rash decisions that have dire consequences, or make decisions we deeply regret.

Bottom line: If fear is holding you back from achieving your dreams and desires, getting to know yourself well to uncover the beliefs and feelings that are blocking you is the key to changing your results.

Imagine having the life you dream about. What's that worth to you?

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Article Tags: achieving your dreams, anger, avoidance, bottom line, business success, case scenarios, caution, consequences, dreams and desires, emotions, fears, grief, inner conflict, motivator, personal happiness, procrastination, rash decisions, roadblock, victim of circumstances, worse case



Related Forum Posts
Re: What Do Women Entrepreneurs Want? - [quote="Tami Szabo":1ya8y88l]Shri, I really appreciate what you said. When we place the blame elsewhere, we give our power away. However, when we look at ourselves and our our ability to create the lives and businesses that we want, we empower ourselves. Kevin asked what I'd like to see with this forum and I think you and I are on the same page. I want to see this as a community of intelligent women where we inspire each other to think bigger and open up to the great possibilities for ourselves and our businesses. I truly believe each one of us women has great talent and potential. When we stop comparing ourselves with others and simply focus on succeeding at being the amazing women we already are, we give ourselves permission to grow forward in incredible ways. Fear takes a back seat because it's not about impressing others, but simply expressing who we already are. Since we're all great women, we have nothing to prove. I desire to see this forum as a safe place to share our plans and invite the best of each other forward. Let's set a precedence of not measuring our value against other women or men. We are not a threat to each other! Imagine the powerful force we will be if we learn to come together and keep inviting each one to reveal her great talents. With much warmth and sincerity, Tami[/quote:1ya8y88l] I like Shri's comments as well because people who complain a lot only make themselves look bad rather than their subject matter. And Tami, when you said that you have a "desire to see this forum as a safe place to share our plans and invite the best of each other forward" it reminded me of the book "Don't Think Pink" by Lisa Johnson & Andrea Learned. In that book, the authors share your sentiments by saying "Hosting a forum through which your women customers can share their stories with one another...women will remember the brand that helped them find a solution-oriented community, and they will remain loyal and very likely spread the word about it to their friends” ("Don't Think Pink" 73).
Re: Fear of Success - You don't need to fear success. We should embrace it. Fear is define by a man of God as False Evidence Appearing Real. the meaning is what we fear most does'nt come to pass
Other Great Books... - Feel The Fear And Do It AnyWay - Susan Jeffers How To Stop Worrying And Do It Anyway - Dale Carnegie ('What's the worst that could happen - the worst?' Then prepare yourself for that and reality is such a relief!).
Re: Seth Godin: Star Fish v Long Tail - Thanks for sharing, David. I always enjoy the interest it brings me when I read these types of things. Things that make you think to consider other possibilities, no matter how obvious they may seem. Cheers, Emma
Re: What I'm reading this weekend - Oct 8, 2010 - these are great! In particular, I liked "you’re already perfect" and "Smashing through the Black Wall of Fear." That's exciting that there is a new 4-hour book out. I really enjoyed "The 4 hour Workweek."


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