Ever wonder how to get over your greatest fear?
Do you even know what your greatest fear is? What it’s costing you and how it’s limiting you?
Do you know you are keeping yourself small because you are led by fear towards the other direction?

I’ve been there……… until I learned to work WITH fear, instead of staying away from “it”.
What if I told you that there is a way to effectively take fear by the hand and YOU guiding it towards your goal? Are you ready to dig deeper into your fear and work with it?

I’ve constructed an 8 step guide on how to get a grip of your fears to get insight into how you are playing small. These go-to steps for looking fear straight in the eye, will give you a grip on your fears, help you accept them, and work WITH them to achieve your highest goals in life.

Get Acquainted With Fear

You might have read a lot of quotes about fear that convince you that it isn’t a good advisor if you want to accomplish new heights in life. I couldn’t agree more!

Here are some examples:

”Fear is the thief of dreams” - Brian Krans
”We have nothing to fear, but fear itself” - F.D. Roosevelt
“Everything you want is on the other side of fear” - Jack Canfield

etc., etc.
Every person in the world has to deal with fears, maybe it’s the same fear you have, maybe it’s a more personal kind of fear.
This has to do with your own perception of the world, what you’ve experienced so far, and perhaps most important, how you perceived it.

There are a lot of fears that you can come across in your life.

Since you are reading this blog I assume you want to know how to get the best out of your life and get rid of fears that are holding you back at this stage in life.

Before you can EVER go past your fears, you have to acknowledge it, recognize it, and accept it as your fear before you can EVER do something about it.

This is not the most fun part of self-development, but it’s very essential.

I know, I know, nobody wants to take their finger and point it directly at themselves, but this is truly one of the most essential parts of getting ahead in life.

When you accept that you are the only person who is responsible to move forward in life and look fear in the eye when you have to, you are already one step ahead.

I want you to read through this blog not only as a source of information but also as a source of taking ACTION and taking the first step into looking your fears straight in the eye and say: BOOO! I got ya!

This is going to give you so much more grip on what it is your thinking, what you’re feeling and doing, that keep you from achieving your goals. You will have the handles to take amazing steps towards your goals while having a good time with your new best friend, your fear.

Once you have the awareness of what it is your fearing, you can get acquainted with it, accept it, and change your world with it.

“We see the world as we are, not what it is.” - Stephen R. Covey

Stop Running, Start Saying Hi!

As I said, there is not one person in the world that is without fear.

However, there are some people walking this earth who have mastered their thoughts, emotions, and feelings and just walk hand in hand with fear to their goal and destiny.

I want to be someone like that! Don’t you?

I’ve been making some great steps over the last few years, but I am still on my way to getting fearless.
THIS TAKES PRACTICE AND IS NOT DONE IN ONE SITTING!
Just so you know! 😉
It’s a way of seeing the world and whatever comes your way.

Nevertheless, you will get better at it and it will come more naturally.

In this blog, I want to give you some handles on how to recognize your fears and acknowledge them.

Recently I came across inspiring literature of Robin Sharma about fear.

Robin Sharma mentions that there are twelve core types of human fears. Every human has aspects of it in their lives, one more strongly than the other.

I went through this and thought it added value to the path I’ve been taking myself.

I have been going through the motion of taking action with my fears and I wanted to share with you the benefits it has brought me through this post. I want to share the actions you can take to become less of a puppet for your fears and actually get where you want to go.

Below I have listed the twelve fears by Robin Sharma and some examples to explain in what context it is meant.

12 Core Human Fears:

1) Fear of Failure

Failure is just market research of what works and what doesn’t. There are always other chances.

2) Fear of Success

Don’t stand out, don’t be special, and for the love of Donald Duck, don’t be successful!

3) Fear of Rejection

What if they don’t love me, like me, or even want to look at me? What if they make me feel like I don’t belong?

4) Fear of Not Being Good Enough

There are always people who know more, do more, and are more. Does that make me inadequate?

5) Fear of Not Having Enough

Fear of scarcity. I don’t know enough, I don’t have enough money, my house isn’t big enough and I’m not smart enough. When is what you have actually enough to be happy and fulfilled?

6) Fear of Looking Different

Fear of not living up to the expectations of others. I don’t want to look different in social presents. What if what I am doing is not normal or the social standard?

7) Fear of Losing Control

Fear of the unknown. Do I have influence over the result when I’m not in control?

8) Fear of Being Alone

When you are alone, you are alone with you. You and your thoughts and feelings and emotions. Do you like and appreciate your own company?

9) Fear of Illness

We are taught fear. Are you afraid of getting seriously ill? Which one of your family members was also afraid of getting ill?

10) Fear of Being Exposed as a Fraud

Imposter syndrome. Who are you to say or do this? You are completely wrong in whatever you are doing! You will get exposed no matter how good you think you are.

11) Fear of Love

You are not feeling worthy of love. I’m rejecting before I get rejected.

12) Being Insignificant

Not leaving my mark with the work I did and the difference I made. The work I did doesn’t matter. I’m leaving this earth in vain.

Shake Hands With Fear Action Plan

Now that you know the 12 fears, you want to dig deeper into how this plays up in your daily life.
Of course, not everything will play up in every situation, think about the things that are significant for you and how you go about it now that you would like to change.

Grab a piece of paper and pen and get insight into how your fears play a role in your life.

1) What is the fear you most relate to, make a top 3. (To help you with this, go over the 12 fears again and rank it from 1 to 10 on how this plays up for you in your life.)

2) What situations arise when you’re thinking about one particular fear at the time of your top 3? Be specific in the context.

3) Set your timer for 3 minutes and really think about this and feel what it does for you right now. What is it you want to say about it? Do this with every fear of your top 3 and write it all out. Be as short and long as you want to but do get it all out.

4) How does this fear reflect in your behavior, can you think of a situation where this fear was taking the biggest role and let your fill the backseat? What is it that you did exactly?

5) What is it you did and what is it you wanted to do? What was the ideal situation?

6) How is this fear helping you and/or protecting you?

7) How would working with this fear help you in life and this situation?

8) What could you do to take a step in the right direction, when this fear shows its face again?

Reflect

Reflect on what you have written down. Was it fun to do? I guess not!

I can imagine that you rather do something completely different, like eating ice cream or chocolate (maybe you can do this afterward 😊), but OMG how much did you get out on the table?

Did this resonate with you? I guess that some of them are quite familiar to you.
Did you feel anything? Did this make you sad, relieved, or maybe angry?
Whatever you felt, this is step one in facing your fears and loosening the grip.
I know, you are not there yet and you might feel like, okay, and now what?
Just let this sit with you for a while. This might feel uncomfortable, however, read your answers again in a day or 2 and reflect on it again. Are you ready to take more action on this?

If you are, click the links below for more fear-oriented articles to give you actionable insights to let your fears go and achieve your highest goals in life, with or without fear!

Featured