Managing Fear

Fear can be managed.  Look at firefighters, for instance.  Despite human nature- fear of fire and being burned, firefighters run into burning buildings, stay there, look for life and come out.  They are able to stay calm enough to issue commands and reassure others.  They get the job done.  They have learned to manage the fear and even turn it into anticipation..

I am not suggesting that next time you are afraid you need to run into a burning building.  That would be..not wise.  I am suggesting that a very effective way to manage your fear-based beliefs is to upgrade them (or downgrade them, depending on your take) a little at a time so that eventually they are no longer fears or at least not fears that have an influence on you.  

Here's a system that I just learned from a friend.  Observe a fear as it naturally comes up (usually that takes about 20 seconds or so...). Stop and look at it instead of trying to deny it or shoo it away.  As if it is a interesting creature, ask yourself "Where is this fear coming from? What is at its root?"  For instance, the fear could be that you won't be able to make enough money with your career.  The root of that could be that you would be seen as a failure, you would be a disappointment to your family, you would be revealed as a fake- incompetent, powerless etc.   

Now, you are at the meat of the fear- this is a good thing because now, you can question the validity of these beliefs.  So, you can't make enough  money- would you really be seen as a failure (aka see yourself as a failure)?  Only, if you choose to be.  Most of the successful people (financially) in the world have stories where they are broke.  So, you could see your potential financial losses as a good sign that you are on the track to success, IF you keep learning and growing.  

Then, as you start to take apart these fears and beliefs, you can start to revise them just a little. You don't necessarily want to change them to "I'm going to be a millionaire in the next month", because you know that is too big a leap and you don't believe it yet and so you'll fall right back to the original fear.  The little revision could be "If I'm not able to make enough money with my career, I know there are other sources of income that could come to me if I am open to them.  I could also make changes in my lifestyle until I start bringing in more income.  I will be able to adjust as needed."  Now, this may be a leap.  If so, revise a little more until you think you could believe in this statement.

Write the statement down and put in a place you can see or in your pocket so you can be reminded- especially in times when this fear pops up.  Then, instead of falling back to step 1 fear- the scary monster in the closet- you have step 2 fear- the not-as-scary monster that perhaps you could beat up if you needed to.  After a time, this new fear or less scary belief, which you can write down evidence for, will become comfortable.  Soon, you will be ready to let go of that fear for an even softer, higher energy thought that you  make into a belief.  Repeat process.

Eventually, these beliefs are not fear-based at all.  In fact, they are powerful, love-based beliefs.  Isn't that cool?  But, don't take my word for it.. give it a try.