Overcoming your fears
Whether rational or irrational, everybody has to deal with his or her own fears. In fact, fear is often what drives us to act in life; it is how we perceive and respond to fear that really matters.
If you feel like fear is beginning to take over your life a little too much, it’s probably worth investing in appropriate support to address the issue. A recent research study led by Voucherbox suggests that many people in the UK are choosing to address their fears, with 48% of people spending over £100 a year on fighting their fears.
But what exactly are we afraid of?
But what exactly are we afraid of? Let’s take a closer look at some of the most common fears, ways to tackle them and where to go for help.
List of most common fears:
- Insects
- Snakes
- Social anxiety
- Insects
- Personal failure
Some of these are physical and some or psychological fears, such as fear of failure and social anxiety. Facts have shown that the cases of social anxiety have been steadily increasing in numbers. With generation Y being the group suffering more and more from this fear based condition. The rise of technology has been cited by psychologists as one of the reasons in the increase.
Personal anxieties and failure
The fear of personal anxieties is a generic term generally used to describe one or more of the many phobias that a person may have – such as snakes, heights, flying, enclosed spaces etc. Your own personal anxiety is usually the answer to the question: ‘What are you scared of?’ These fears are often irrational. For instance, people who are scared of flying simply don’t realize that flying is by far the safest mode of transportation.
Ironically, it seems our biggest fear is ourselves. It’s so easy to be our own worst critic, to never truly believe in our own ability and potential. If we are to achieve the things we deeply desire in life then we must overcome the fear that sometimes we may fail.
Social anxiety is actually one of the most common anxiety disorders.
So, how can you look to tackle your fears in a safe way?
1. Get curious.
Fear can be driven from not knowing the outcome, a fear of the unknown can be crippling. And this is where the base of most fear originates. By staying curious and exploring what ‘might’ happen, it opens up your mind. It can bring about the realization that what would actually happen, if you faced your fear, is much less frightening than the situation you’ve built up in your own mind.
2. Social anxiety
Social anxiety is actually one of the most common anxiety disorders. Often, the fear that people experience with social anxiety stems from a self-conscious worry that they will do or say something, that will embarrass them in front of others. One of the ways to ease this worry is to actually get out there, amongst situations that take you outside of your comfort zone. But, do it safely, take a friend with you for support.
3. Talk.
It’s without still the best method to tackle your fears. Our minds are very powerful in creating visual images and when we contemplate on a fear for too long, the scenario is built up in our mind. Talking this through brings some rational thought to the situation and releases some of the anxiety surrounding it. Find someone you can trust, sometimes it’s easier if you don’t know the person very well. Or look to talk with a professional, to discuss you fears.
4. Get some support
There are many ways to get some support when facing your fears; EFT, NLP and hypnosis are some of the techniques that have been shown to help. Look at when the fear started, was it triggered by a specific event? Was it linked back to your childhood? (many fears are) And look to get some professional help to dig deeper and discuss your fear. Always look for a professional acreditated practitioner.
Keeping a positive mindset and Getting to grips with your own excuses maybe helpful to read through too.
Promoted in collaboration with:VoucherBox
