We are born with only two innate fears: the fear of falling and the fear of loud sounds, the rest we learn along the way. Sometimes are fears are things we have picked up through and experience and sometimes we have taken on fears of others through our family and friends.
Your brain works in many ways to keep you safe.. but it can also be off kilter... it perceives so many things as a danger. In fact your brain will send out a warning signal each and every single time you do anything for the first time.
“Ohhh you won't be good at this, ohhh watch out this is hard... be careful!!” It screeches.
Most of the time you are not in any danger at all and you just need to tell you brain to pipe down!
“Thanks for the warning brain but I have got this”
If you are brave enough to push through these signals and give it a go anyway there is nothing quite like that feeling of achievement.
In the meantime you could be spending anything from a minute to weeks feeling scared about something you know you want to or should be doing and we all know that's not a nice feeling.
So for now...think about something that you did in the past that you were fearful off but then you pushed through and did it anyway. Remember how good to felt afterwards, how rewarding the experience was and how it really wasn't as bad as you thought it was going to be in the first place.
Use that feeling now...hold that feeling...and tell your brain it's going to feel great this time too. It's called a future facing feeling. Don't think about your fear right now, think instead about how great you know it will feel afterwards.
Literally…tell yourself…
“Hey brain.. gonna do a presentation at work today, I am going to smash it and it's going to feel so good!
Every time you feel like you might throw up about it or even stop yourself from doing it altogether tell yourself
“I will smash it, I will be awesome” over and over and over.
Let this mantra become the only truth. Flood your mind with this new thought so there is no room for the fear. Let this be the only way...
By the time you do the thing you were so fearful of it will be a walk in the park.