Fear can physically and mentally cripple you. For example, people have gotten stage fright and forgotten their lines while standing, momentarily paralyzed on the stage. Have you had a similar experience?

What are you afraid of?

Everyone is afraid of something. The harder part is facing your fears and conquering them. The secret to defeating your fears is to break them down into pieces. 

Here are four fears and how to conquer them.

Fear of overwhelm. In life, we can be overwhelmed by everything we need to do, from personal to professional projects. Selling or buying a house, starting a new career, or maintaining a long-term relationship. You are hit by a tsunami of questions – what do you do first? What if you forget to do something important? 

The first step is to make a plan and break down a major task into a series of steps. If necessary, get help from a mentor or an expert or someone available. Ask for advice on what to do when buying a home. See if a coworker can help with a project. Just work on one small task at a time, instead of taking on everything as one goal.

Fear of things. Phobias are often out of your control. You just fear what you fear, such as spiders, snakes, heights, or closed spaces. 

But if you arm yourself with knowledge, you can slowly start to chip away at your fear. For example, if you fear spiders, read a book about spiders and learn everything you can about them. The question is WHAT should you fear about your fear. Being bitten by a spider and reacting to the venom is a true concern. Being fearful of a tarantula because it is sitting next to you, minding its own business and enjoying the weather – that’s a fear in your mind. Knowledge is power. 

Fear of situations. Rejection is a situation many people dread. You have no control over how people think of you. What if you tell someone you like them and they don’t like you back? What if you apply for your dream job and you are rejected?

To overcome your fear of these types of situations, put yourself in these situations more often. (This probably seems like a nightmare in itself.) Apply for jobs more often so you have more experience with resumes and job interviews. Work up your courage and be brave. Ask the person you like to spend time alone with you. See how they react. Then, eventually, work your way up to the big question: Do they like you?

Fear of failure. Everyone fears failure. It’s embarrassing, and it’s a terrible feeling to disappoint yourself or someone else. However, failure gives us painful but valuable lessons. Any business owner will tell you that the road to success is not easy and failure (or failures) is something you encounter on your journey.

To succeed, you develop mental toughness. When failure happens, ask yourself what you would do differently next time. What lessons did you learn? If you tried a new hobby (like playing piano) and failed at it, try again. (No one played piano masterfully on the first try.) Or you find you have played the same sport for a year and made zero progress. It happens. It’s a learning process. Sometimes it’s a sign to try something new.

We face our fears every day. This Halloween, take a moment to think about your greatest fears and how you will overcome them. 

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