When Fear Throws You off Your Game

Everyone is afraid of something. Fear managed can make you sharper when it forces you to push ahead and conquer what you’re afraid of. But sometimes fear can stop your progress. It can make you afraid to make a move for fear of what might happen.

Everyone Is Nervous About Trying Something New

There’s something that you should know about fear when it comes to trying something new. You’re not alone. That’s because new represents change. It’s a deviation from the old way of doing things and branching out into something that may be completely different.

People get stuck in a habit and the reason that they stay within the confines of that habit is because they’re comfortable That way of doing things is so familiar, they can do it automatically. Their response is the same and their results are the same.

But your way of doing things doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the best way. Not trying a new of doing things could mean that you’re preventing the very change that could catapult you into the next level.

You could also be short-changing your journey to success.

The problem with feeling fear when it comes to a new thing is that people feel alone. They fall into the mistaken belief that they’re the only ones in the world who feel the way that they do.

This happens because when they look around, successful people or people who are always up for trying something new always seem so confident. Just remember that you don’t know what goes on under the surface.

They could have had or may even still be experiencing the same nervousness that you are. When you’re trying something that’s completely foreign to you, you might instantly get those butterflies in your stomach and you feel nervous and unsure.

That’s normal. Change represents letting go of your hold on what’s familiar to branch out into an area of the unknown. This is also a reason why many people fear the future rather than embracing it.

They don’t know what’s going to happen or if they’re going to like or be happy with what happens. Sticking with what you know allows you to feel like you’re the one in charge - that you’re able to control everything because you know all the steps and actions in your life at the moment.

New stuff means you won’t be in control. So you try to avoid change because it means the life you have right now is going to be different. But you can’t prevent the future from coming.

It’s going to arrive anyway, so you might as well open yourself up to something new. That nervousness that you could be feeling can make you want to pull back and not change anything.

It can make you doubt yourself. You might think that surely if you were on the right track, you’d feel assurance and not fear. But that’s not true. Don’t believe that fear is a sign that you need to stay where you are. It’s a sign that the change you’re making is a positive one and what’s coming will be better than what you currently have going on.

Do It Afraid and Let Courage Come Later

When taking steps toward success, it can be scary. There are a lot of variables, a lot of what-ifs involved and that’s why you feel the fear that you do. People who want success are often afraid of being inadequate.

They fear that they don’t have the talent or the money or the intelligence or the skills to reach success. This is actually a normal thing. Everyone who wants to do something different from their ordinary way can feel like this.

The key to eliminating fear caused by feelings of inadequacy is to get to the root of why you feel that way. Once you can label what the issue is, you’ll discover that it’s not something that should hold you back.

You may not know where you’re going or how to accomplish the steps that you need to take, so it can cause you to feel fear. And that fear can keep you from success. What you have to do is to hold on to the excitement that you first felt when you envisioned your future success.

The funny thing about fear is that it can project itself forward. People feel fear over things that haven’t happened and think things like, “What if I fail?” The fear of everything falling apart makes you afraid because you fear it would mean the death of your dreams.

When it comes to thoughts of failure being the root of your fear, you have to realize that you might have moments where you do fail. But that won’t keep you from failing permanently.

It only means that you have to shake it off and try a new direction. You might be someone who fears doing something because you’re afraid that your idea, your hopes, your plans or what you want out of life will be rejected by those whose opinions matters to you.

Just remember that they’re not the ones living out your life and you owe it to yourself to chase your dreams - to live out your passion. Maybe you fear what will happen if you do step forward and head toward the success that you want to achieve.

You know it’s going to cause some things to change and you’re afraid of that. Fearing change is something that a lot of people experience. It means that what was once your safety net has shifted and you don’t feel like you have anything to catch you if the new thing you want to do doesn’t succeed.

You can sit back and allow fear to talk you out of doing what you’re passionate about. You can let that fear put your dreams on the back burner. Maybe you understand the fear that’s holding you back but you don’t know how to fix it.

You fix it deciding that you’re going to make a commitment to move forward anyway. You don’t let the fear hold onto you. You shake off the inertia and you go for it. The entire time you’re taking action steps, you might be afraid - but keep going.

In the end, by following through, you’ll discover that you’ve gained confidence. That confidence will help you to face your fears and move forward from that point onward toward the success that you want.

Are You Afraid That Success Will Chain You to Something You May Not Like?

There’s nothing like the thrill of chasing success and achieving it. You made the decision to try something new and it’s surpassed everything that you imagined it would.

But instead of being over the moon happy and satisfied with having reached the success that you worked for, you don’t feel that it’s what you wanted after all.

In fact, you look back and think that you were happier then and that you liked how things used to be. All of a sudden, you experience a tightening in your gut because you fear that you’ve made a huge mistake.

It wasn’t supposed to feel like that.

Before, when things were the old way, you lived your life and you knew what was expected of you. You could do what needed to be done almost on autopilot. It was that simple - that easy - and back then, you only had the dream for something else, this new thing that you’re now living.

And what you’re worried about is that people have seen this success, this change, this new way and now more is expected of you. You’ve leveled up and shown others that your achievements are better, that you can handle more, and that you know how to shake things up and make a change.

It might be that you’re not happy where you are but the people expecting more of you will be disappointed if you turn back. You don’t want to let anyone down so you feel stuck.

Maybe you figure that you’ll just stick with it - that you made the change and you’re just going to try to do the best that you can with it and how you feel about this way.

You worry that the pressure to do more, to do better, to reach higher is now aimed in your direction. You see the applause, the praise, and you feel pressured to reach for bigger goals when deep inside you know it’s only going to make you more miserable.

A good example of this is people who go to college thinking that if they get their degree in one area, that it’s what they want and life is simply going to be great all the way around.

Then they graduate, start working in that field and discover that it’s not for them after all. But they have all those years of learning behind them - maybe a huge college debt - not to mention proud friends and relatives.

How could you possibly change direction and disappoint them? What you have to do is realize that it’s your life. You have to recognize that you’re the one in control. When something is or isn’t right for you, then you’re going to know it.

And you have the power to change direction or return back to the way that you used to do things. Don’t allow fear or the worry about what other people will think determine how you live your life.

Do You Fear Ridicule By Your Peers?

When you try something new, it can be a time of fun and excitement. But it can also be a time of anxiety and stress when you think about the people who are watching your efforts.

You might feel like there’s a giant spotlight shining down on you and everything that you’re trying to accomplish is exposed in that glare - the steps you take, the mistakes that you make, and even the doubts that you have.

When you think about that, it can make you feel like what you’re doing isn’t as good as it should be. You feel like you’re just fumbling your way through. Even the things that you do accomplish, you feel like they’re somehow lacking because of that glaring spotlight exposing every angle.

You might even start to look for mistakes and judge yourself harshly. The excitement and pride you thought you’d feel is non-existent because all you can think about is the possible ridicule that might be headed your way.

That can make you feel self-conscious enough to start shying away from taking the steps that you know you should be taking. What you have to understand is that reaching your goals isn’t going to be a winning process all the time.

You’re going to have days when everything goes right and you feel like you can do no wrong. Everything you touch seems to turn to success. But then you’re going to have days when you’re achieving goals, but it feels like a big struggle – like one loss after another just to get to where you’re going.

You’ll think you can’t do anything right. When you’re going through that and you think that there’s a spotlight on you with a cast of people just waiting to point their fingers and laugh at everything going wrong, it can make you feel like giving up.

But what you have to realize is that while it might feel like the whole world has eyes on you, no one is waiting in the wings to ridicule you. The people who care about you aren’t standing by just waiting for you to mess up.

They’re not waiting to enjoy seeing you struggle. The people who matter root for you to succeed and when the losses do come, they root for you then, too. When you struggle and you fear ridicule, that’s something that you’ve created.

You’ve built up an opinion of what’s going on as you strive for success. You worry that you’re going to be laughed at because the goals you’re trying to reach feel like a part of you.

They’re important to you and they feel personal. So you think that everyone is going to feel the same way about what you do. You think that they’re going to be upset or make fun of you when the losses happen.

But that’s something that’s true only inside your mind. No one is waiting to jeer and no one is waiting to see if you fail.  Everyone has their eyes on their own goals and set of problems, and they usually don’t have time to wallow in yours.

Do You Fear the Process of Success Because It Inevitably Involves Failure?

Success is something that waits at the end of the line. It’s there at the end of all your action steps, waiting for you to claim it after you’ve worked hard and made changes. It’s like the brass ring that everyone wants to reach for but not everyone can obtain.

But some people know that the journey isn’t always going to be a pleasant one to travel. The path to success is never a smooth one. That’s just not the way that life works. As you head toward success, you’ll discover that some things work well for you and they move you forward.

But you’ll discover that other methods don’t work for you and they either slow you down or stop your progress. That’s all part of the journey - figuring out what’s going to work and what’s not going to work.

Some people are so worried about the part of the success journey where they might fail that they decide they’re not going to pursue what they’d like to. They don’t care that success is within their grasp and if they’d just try, they could have what they wanted - they won’t do it.

While they’re okay with the ups of the journey, the down parts scare them to the point that not doing anything at all seems like a better idea to them than trying and possibly failing.

However, you try to achieve the success you want, there’s always going to be a mixture of both failure and success. The failures are necessary because they teach you about success.

You learn from every problem, from every mistake, and from every obstacle that stands in your path. But some people decide that only if the road is completely smooth will they venture out toward success - and that’s just not realistic.

What you have to do is to learn to look at failures in a new light. Stop seeing them as an albatross that hangs around the neck of success and can end it. Instead, learn to see any kind of failure, no matter how big or how small, as stepping stones that you lay down on the path to success.

Recognize that failure doesn’t mean that your story is over. It’s not the end. Your dreams and your hopes and the goal you hope to achieve is still very much alive.

Recognize that failure is just a momentary blip. It’s an obstacle that presents itself as a way for you reach success with just a little more effort. Maybe you’ll have to take an alternate route or use a different way of thinking to approach the problem.

But just remember that the failure is only temporary. You will get around it and you will be able to continue moving toward your success if you stick with it.