The Fears We Must Overcome To Achieve Our Greatest Dreams
The title of this might scare you. To be honest, it scares me too. If you look at the world hard enough, you’ll see that everyone fears this subject. At the heart of everything, we, as people, fear change. I’ll get into that in a moment.
You might look at the topic of How To Achieve Your Goals and think, “I don’t have any goals.” While you may not have them written down anywhere, they’re at the back of your mind. Deep down inside of you, God has planted something. You were made to do something great. The question is…
Will you accept the call?
I hope you will. There are some fears that might get in the way — but in the end, you can cast all of your anxiety on God and He will take care of it. I promise you, you were made to do incredible things. God has a plan for you in this world — it’ll just take a little bit of work to execute it.
Want to be a better person? Want to get better grades? Want to have better relationships? Set your goals and go after them — without fear. (Well, a little less fear.)
1. Overcome the Fear of Others
Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind. (Dr. Seuss)
How many times have you planned to do something and then realized that another individual might not approve? Good. I’m not the only one. In our world, we’ve been conditioned to care what other people think. While this isn’t an inherent problem, when we allow the thoughts of others to take more precedence than the will of God, we have an issue.
Next time to stop work on a goal or a dream because of what someone else says or what you think they think, remember that quote from Dr. Suess. If they mind, they don’t matter. If someone doesn’t approve of your hard work and determination to be a better person — they’re not worth keeping as a friend. Secondly, those who matter don’t mind. The people who really love you, they won’t care.
Remember, other people, are not who you’re trying to please.
2. Overcome the Fear of Failure
You will fail. I promise. Don’t let that stop you.
There has never been a perfect individual to walk this earth besides Jesus. Every other person has failed on some level. For me, my failure rate is daily. Sometimes I fall back into old habits, other times I snap at one of my younger brothers, I procrastinate, I choose to watch useless YouTube videos instead of doing the work that I love.
The walk won’t be perfect — but the view at the end will certainly be worth it.
Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising every time we fail. (Confucious)
The next time you fall, remember that you can always get back up. Realize that you set out on this path towards this dream with a clear intent. There is something you want. There is something that God wants for you. You just have to answer a simple question. Will you go for it no matter how many times you get knocked down? I sure hope you will. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, right?
3. Overcome the Fear of Success
I didn’t realize that this was a fear of mine for a long time. It still is. It will be until the day I die. It’s probably one of your greatest fears as well — even if you don’t realize it. It might even be a fear that makes sense. However, we have to give up on it.
The fear of success that all humans seem to possess is rooted in the idea of going where we’ve never been before. I think of going on a trip to a destinatio I’ve never visited, meeting someone new, taking a new class, or something of the like. New things make most people nervous simply because of the reason that we haven’t been there before.
Exactly.
The dream that you have inside of you, no matter how big or small, has never been achieved by you. In some cases, it might have never been achieved by anyone. But you have never accomplished that goal. What are you doing to do? You don’t have a rulebook, you don’t have a map, all you have is a whole bunch of anxious emotions.
The solution?
Step out anyways. Get good at improvising. Make a plan, but be willing to change it along the way. Never let uncertainty stop you from doing what you want to do. Is change scary? Absolutely. Will you fail at some point? Yes, own it. Can you come out victorious? With a whole lot of prayer and hard work, yes. Change is scary — but the point here is that it’s important.
Don’t care what other people think. Stop worrying about failure. Overcome your anxiety about change — because it’s the thing that you need most in your life right now.
Failure isn’t fatal, but failure to change might be. (John Wooden)
What would you do if you weren’t afraid?
Love, Katie
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