5 Ways to Face Your Biggest Fears

1. Appreciate your human nature.

Human nature is still the primary driver of all behavior. And behavior is the most complex variable in the world. It impacts everything it touches and is responsible for everything we value. It’s infinitely complex and wildly unpredictable.

What makes behavior so complex is human nature. It’s the best and the worst of us.

It’s our strength and weakness.

It’s our source of love and courage and our source of hate and fear.

It’s what raises us to discipline and lowers us to impulse.

So what can you do with your human nature?

Experience it. Be real.
Overcome it. Be in control.
Exceed it. Be exceptional.

2. Start with fearless effort.

Fear is usually the most intense, disorienting, and difficult emotion to control. It limits what you see, changes what you do, and takes control of your body. Your stomach tightens, heart pounds, hands shake, and mind races.

Fear wants to paralyze you. Don’t let it. You can’t overcome fear sitting still. You can’t get past your fears if you’re not moving. If you stay paralyzed, fear remains in control.

You don’t need to overcome fear. You need to overcome inaction. You can take action while you’re afraid. You must.

Fearless effort is little less fear and a lot more effort.

Don’t try to eliminate fear. Instead, fear . . . less.

You can be afraid and still act. It’s ok to be afraid. It’s not ok to stay frozen. Don’t try to live and act without fear. Just fear less and do more.

3. Face fear and win the fight.

Fear is your mind warning you of a future outcome you don’t want.

You won’t help yourself by flooding your mind with fearful stories of potential future problems.

You help yourself by creating the future you want, not by fearing the future you don’t want.

Emotions don’t evaluate accuracy. They believe whatever you tell yourself. They assume that if you’re saying it in your head, it must be real and it must be important.

So fill your mind with stories of strength, courage, and resilience. Feed your self-confidence and starve your self-doubt.

See where you want to go, what you want to do, and how hard you’ll work to get there. If you can’t get good stories in your head, then set the stories aside and do what you need to do.

4. Focus on three specific skills.

Put focused energy and your best effort into three specific skills over the next six months.

More courage when you’re most afraid.

More patience when you’re most anxious.

More love when you’re most annoyed.

Fear, anxiety, and irritation can take over your life. Now is a good time to take it back. Start training yourself to call on courage when you feel afraid, practice patience when you feel anxious, and lean into love when you feel annoyed.

You’ll like where that leads you.

5. Create stability, security, and confidence.

Building confidence doesn’t happen in a comfortable, predictable environment. That creates false confidence.

Confidence is built by facing uncertainty, even fear, and working in it.

Sometimes it’s a struggle. Sometimes it feels devastating. But if you stay focused and learn, you improve.

What is uncertain becomes stable.

What is stable becomes secure.

What is secure becomes confident.

Each layer of confidence you add pushes you into the next uncertainty.

This is growth.