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If you are placed in front of a door that says “fear” that is a door you must pass through to become the next bigger version of yourself. All successful growth begins just outside your comfort zone. There is no fear in comfort and nothing driving you when there is security. Where there is comfort, there is complacency and complacency is the greatest counterforce to personal development.
To become abundantly successful and fulfilled master fear and let it make you stronger than you were before. Fear is designed to raise your desires to higher standards. When you understand that the intention behind this emotion is your personal evolvement, you can use it to develop the resilience necessary to increase your capacity to thrive in life.
The Seven Beneficial Roles of Fear
1. The competitor: When you are unsure of your next steps in life fear will surface. It is easy to fall victim to the belief you are placing yourself in danger of failing, causing you to feel inclined to avoid whatever challenge you are facing. Keep in mind, fear is a counter-intuitive emotion; when you want to step back fear is urging you to move forward.
Fear wants you to take it on, to compete with it and to force yourself to flourish. Success in all areas of life entails risk and the courage to make bold decisions. If you let fear encapsulate you it will suck you into a negative self-reinforcing mire because fear feeds upon itself. The more you let fear stop you, the bigger your fear becomes, the more difficult it is to act, the less able you are to succeed.
If you want something, but are afraid of all possible hiccups which could happen along the way, fear is dictating and winning the competition.
To thrive in life, learn to move faster than your fear.
2. The incentive driver: In the pursuit of happiness you cannot let any opponent, in life or business, make you feel so weak that you consent to play small. When you consent to smallness you delay movement forward into the areas of life waiting to gift you with a sense of satisfaction.
Most fears you have are made-up fears not true threats to your life or overall success. Be open to the emotion of fear, let it settle in and find your way back to rational thought. Once emotionally in control, let fear be the incentive you use to push through challenges.
As you prove fear wrong over and over again, you develop confidence. Without fear confidence could not develop. You become confident through continually and successfully achieving things you never before thought you were capable of doing or achieving.
When used correctly, fear will drive you more deliberately towards success than any other emotion.
3. The analyst: Fear does not show up without reason. Typically there is something you are afraid of. In life, thoughts of failure or loss naturally cause you to do all you can to avoid these experiences. However, avoidance serves nothing but a complete breakdown in your creativity, generating mental blocks which impede your movement forward.
To avoid falling victim to fear analyze what you are afraid of. When you can mentally work through what you are afraid of you create the opportunity to answer for yourself what needs to be done to transmute this negative state into a proactive step in a new direction.
4. The protector: Fear generates an automatic state of heightened arousal forcing you to tune-in and pay close attention when tackling challenges in life or business. Fear alerts you when to be cautious and when to be bold in your decision making.
Fear is a well-meaning ally so listen to it openly. There are times fear will tell you “it is now or never,” and other times it will tell you “sleep on it, give it time.” These are your guideposts in negotiating and planning your next steps.
5. The useful energy: Imagine if you treated fear the same as you treated any other emotion. In learning to do this you would come to understand its usefulness and be more able to channel its power in a productive manner.
You would come to see that fear, is perhaps, the most useful energy employed in the pursuit of your dreams.
As you associate fear with opportunity (a positive experience) this allows you to see fear’s unmistakable value driving the evolution of who you are. As you experience the joy of pushing beyond fear you come to respect fear as the entryway to increase.
For this reason, always remind yourself everything you want stands on the other side of fear.
6. The wisdom teacher: Fear is closely tied into your gut instinct. Although, this emotion can be uncomfortable, it provides the tough-love you typically do not accept graciously from others. When your thoughts and emotions get the best of you, you are forced to listen.
When you learn to master fearful emotions they become the most powerful wisdom teachers directing your life decisions. The wisdom of fear helps you intuit the next steps outside your comfort zone.
It is essential for your personal development to do the things you fear you cannot. It is through this process you become experienced, wise, and unrestricted in your ability to rise.
7. The Great Catalyst: It is normal to be afraid of being “too bold” or “too different” when it comes to chasing your dreams. Take care never to stifle your greatness under the umbrella of social acceptance and fitting in. Be authentic. Allow yourself to risk and be vulnerable.
In a competitive and self-centered world where many wear a social mask to get ahead, be courageous enough to be you. Transparency is an opportunity magnet. The more authentic you are, the less fearful of being different, the more opportunity will flow your way.
As a human being it is natural to feel fear. Fear is the great competitor and motivator in life. It is the drive within you which has the greatest chance of forcing you to move and change. On a very primal level, fear protects you from danger, but the majority of fear you feel as a human being is the fear of what has not yet happened and of worst case scenarios which are not likely to ever happen.
Repressed fear creates the unnatural state of chronic anxiety ripping away any chance you have of developing the growth necessary to attain the type of soaring success you deserve. Fear is your catalyst. Let it to drive you to greatness.
Sherapy Advice: It is through each experience that you stop and look fear squarely in the face that you prove to yourself you are far more capable than you ever thought.
Follow Sherrie Campbell, PhD on Twitter:
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