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Being fearless isn't being 100 percent not fearful: it's being terrified but you jump anyway." (Taylor Swift)

Fear is an emotion that’s as normal as breathing. The problem is that most people cling to their fears, and are unable to go forward in their lives with necessary change. The only difference between people who achieve greatness and those who do not is that the former discarded their fear.  

The world we have built contains a lot of dangers, and we should have a healthy fear of certain things. In a sense, fear keeps us alive. If we walked through the world in a fearless state and didn’t have awareness of our surroundings, we wouldn’t survive. However, this fear shouldn’t overtake your life. When fear interferes with your daily life, that’s when it becomes a problem.

To conquer fear, try to focus on the areas of your life that you can control. Start working on your fears one day at a time. Before you know it, you’ll forget what you were afraid of in the first place. Fear is perhaps the greatest stumbling block to success and happiness that exists today. It keeps people caught up in all sorts of negative situations. Jasmine Murray’s song "Fearless" reminds us of all what fear involves, and how we can finally become fearless with God’s assistance.

I wake up, I feel it
Those fears are back again
Can't shake 'em, can't make 'em
Ever fade, ever end

Am I good enough?
Do I measure up?
Feels like a war I can't win

But I wasn't given the spirit of fear
I was given the power of love
Everything I've been fighting against
I'm gonna lift it up

Chorus
I wanna be fearless!
No holding back, no backing down
Fearless!
Because I believe, You're with me now

Bring on the unknown
Lead me and I'll go
Come set me free
God, I want to be

Fearless! Fearless!

These mountains, these giants
Will fall at a single Word
In Your Name, in Your strength
I'm more than a conqueror

I wasn't given the spirit of fear
I was given the power of love
Everything I've been fighting against
I'm gonna lift it up

Chorus

I won't be afraid
I won't be afraid!
I'll call on Your Name
I'll walk out in faith!

I won't be afraid
I won't be afraid!
I'll call on Your Name

And I'll walk out in faith

I won't be afraid
I won't be afraid
I'll call on Your Name
And I'll walk out in faith!..

I'm gonna be fearless!
No holding back, no backing down
Fearless!
Because I believe, You're with me now

Bring on the unknown
Lead me and I'll go
You set me free
God, I'm gonna be

Fearless! Fearless!
I'm gonna be fearless
Fearless!

 

In life, you’ve got to look fear down boldly in order to overcome it. Many things that you fear won’t ever actually happen so it’s important to discern real danger from the fabricated fears in your minds. If you’ve wanted to live more fearlessly, then the tips below will help you do just that.

1.   Accept Fear and Embrace It-Fear is something we all have. It is a naturally evolved mechanism that, at times, serves us well. Today however, in advanced, modern societies it tends to be counterproductive and even debilitating. Understanding that everyone deals with fear about a whole range of things is the first key insight. No one is alone in this battle. It would seem that every time a famous or successful person opens up, they talk about the fears they had along the way. In addition to recognizing that fear is universal to humanity, it is also helpful to try to identify what particular issue is causing the fear.

Most seem to come down to either a fear of the unknown or a fear of criticism. Isolating the causes of fear can by itself help dispel them because many, once stated explicitly, become visibly absurd. We should go even further and embrace our fear. The fear will never go away as long as you continue to grow. This is because, as mentioned above, one of the greatest fears is that of the unknown. And thereby, whenever you’re doing something new or reaching a new level in your career, life or relationships, it will be scary. Fear is often a good thing, a sign that you are growing or taking on something new. So seek after it and embrace it.

2.   Be Honest in Your Life-One of the biggest, most consistent fears is the fear of being judged, criticized, or ridiculed. I would say it’s almost universal in our society. This fear makes us seek out after mediocrity as 1) risk can lead to failure which can be ridiculed and 2) success or uniqueness breeds attention, which can lead to criticism. After all, try to name one famous person who isn’t being criticized nearly all of the time. Accepting that criticism is universal is the first step to overcome this fear, but being honest is also of the utmost importance.

Living a life in the shadows creates a sort of paranoia; “what if I get found out?” However, if people already know, then there’s nothing to be found out and thereby nothing to fear. If you made some mistake, admit it quickly and fully. People can’t even be bothered to care. And I would go even further. Demand that your friends, family, supervisors, colleagues and subordinates give you honest feedback and give it to them as well. Don’t merely accept polite platitudes that allow you to maintain a comfortable and oblivious mediocrity.

3.   Lean Just Outside of Your Comfort Zone-The only sure way to get rid of the fear of doing something is to go out and do it. We can all think of things that were horrifying when we first did them, but now don’t give you a second thought. However, taking on what can seem like the whole world all at once is an overwhelming task sure to crush someone’s courage in a heartbeat. The key to defeating fear and building courage is simply to take one step at a time. If you have a fear of public speaking, don’t try to give a massive presentation to a packed audience immediately.

The fear will almost certainly paralyze you and defeat the whole project. Instead, join Toastmasters or something like that. Then once you have become comfortable with that, you can take the next step. Don’t let yourself get comfortable. Try to constantly stay just outside of your comfort zone. Live in that state. Embrace that state. That way you are pushing yourself further without the risk of becoming overwhelmed.

4.   Remind Yourself of the Context-99 percent of things you worry about don’t come true. That may not be technically accurate, but it sounds about right. And even for those fears that do come true, they are usually not nearly as bad as they originally seem. Indeed, from my experience, it’s usually unexpected things that blindside us that cause most of life’s problems, not the things we are incessantly worrying about. Most people get too wrapped up in the minutia of everyday life that we forget to look at the bigger picture. We become attached to and mentally exhausted by all of this baggage.

Separating yourself from the situation and even the potential outcomes can help in regaining calmness and composure. Compared to the size and history of the universe, we are rather insignificant. While that may sound disheartening, it also means our problems and fears are rather insignificant as well. Even our own mortality can be viewed in a way to alleviate fear. We all die. Will this thing you’re afraid of matter in 300 years?  Once you really start to think about it, in all likelihood, it probably won’t even matter next week.

5.   Simplify Your Personal Rules -Thinking and making decisions can be exhausting. Sometimes you just need to give yourself simple rules to follow in certain situations. For example, one of the best proposed rules I’ve heard and started to use was from Brian Tracey in the book listed above, “There is a rule that I have learned from experience: Never do or refrain from doing something because you are concerned about what people might think about you.

The fact is that nobody is even thinking about you at all.” (Change Your Thinking; Change Your Life, pg. 26)Rules like this should be automatic and can defeat fears before they even come up. Of course, we have to remember that practice makes perfect. Along the way, mistakes are to be expected. In fact, like fear, mistakes are often signs that we are growing and trying new things. As former IBM CEO Thomas Watson said, “If you want to succeed, double your rate of failure.”

And if all else fails, just read this quote from Theodore Roosevelt, which I always find helpful: “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

"Fearless is getting back up and fighting for what you want over and over again … even though every time you've tried before you've lost." (Taylor Swift)[i]

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[i] Sources used:

·        “14 Ways to Be Fearless” by Anthony Mazzocchi

·        “5 Ways to Be Fearless This Year” by the Power of Positivity

·        “5 Ways to Become Fearless” By Andrew Syrios