“Fear defeats more people than any other one thing in the world”
--Ralph Waldo Emerson
One of the biggest obstacles to self-confidence and a successful lifestyle is fear. Once allowed to erode your self-confidence, it remains in control of your life, lurking within the subconscious. Each failed attempt or each time something is avoided due to fear, this fearful behaviour is reinforced.
Erosion of self-confidence affects your self-esteem. The self-critic dominates your thought process and self-doubt inevitably moves in as one begins to experience what many term “fear of success.” If the fear is not addressed it continues to sabotage every move.
What Is Fear?
Take the letters from the word, fear, and you have the expansion-- False Evidence Appearing Real. Although fear may be just perceived, it seems so real. It plays games with our minds, robbing us of the rational thoughts we need to move ahead.
When fear is perceived, the portion of the brain involved in fear automatically reacts. It triggers behaviours, such as a racing heart, anxiety, or sweaty palms. If related to doubts about your ability, it will make you come up with an excuse why you cannot accomplish your task. The process is entirely subconscious. You are driven to think, believe, and act based upon the fear you initially perceived.
If the perceived fear is funnelled through unfavourable past experiences, the subconscious mind injects even more doubt and eventually you will be unable to make it past the first step.
When fear becomes pathological, it can wreak havoc. Overcoming fear plays an integral role in determining the happiness quotient of life. For, fear can drive a person to paranoia if he is a control freak or redeem him totally if he surrenders to the unknown.
There is a primordial form of fear that keeps one always on the edge. It is ‘existential
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