Face Your Fears

Many times we know what we are afraid of and we want to overcome our fears by facing them, but when the moment to face the fear comes, we shirk back and become afraid again. How to face your fears then?

Steps

 * 1) Make a list of the fears you want to face. In a notebook clearly and specifically list whatever you are afraid of. This might take some thinking but make the effort - you'll feel awesome later on. Some simple fears you can face are - approaching a stranger all by yourself and saying, "Hi", taking the initiative when in a group of friends and addressing them, going up to a hotel manager and telling him the food today was nice and so on. Make your own list
 * 2) Select one fear that you will work on. Don't worry about how daunting the fear is. You'll face it anyway.
 * 3) Depending on how daunting the fear is, break it into steps. Does it seem too terrible? No problem, break your fear into smaller fears until you feel that you will be able to face the "little" fear with some effort on your part. For instance - if you are a boy, you might be afraid to ask a girl out on a date. The different mini-fears can be - smiling at a girl, initiating any conversation with any girl, asking a girl a question about herself that you are afraid to ask, complimenting a girl on her beautiful appearance, asking a girl on a date. So you see breaking the fear into mini-fears makes it easier to face.
 * 4)  Resolve to face one mini-fear a day. Before you sleep every night, write down the exact fear you are going to face the next day. Then when next day has come to an end, put a tick before the mini-fear you have faced.
 * 5)  Reward yourself every evening after you have faced a mini-fear. One sample rewarding is eating a chocolate or an ice cream you like.
 * 6)  Throughout the day, keep telling yourself- I want to be ripped apart, I want to be called a fool, I want to be a laughing stock - I'll face my fears anyway. This helps you adopt a mindset where you will tend to face anything you fear rather than run from it. Before you know, you will even be facing fears on the spot without needing to list them. For example, if you are attending an event where the stage speaker calls up a volunteer on stage, you might observe that you are afraid to go up on stage and immediately decide to face this fear and rush onto stage anyway!

Tips

 * Read up more on facing fears, preferably at least one article a day. The more you surround yourself with the mindset of facing your fear, the more you subconsciously intend to kick fear out of the window.

Warnings

 * Sometimes you might find yourself being afraid, and not able to face the fear you had thought of facing today. That is perfectly OK. Do not get stressed out. Be ready to be ripped apart tomorrow!

Related Tips and Steps

 * How to Be Fearless
 * How to Overcome Fear
 * How to Understand Your Emotions
 * How to Conquer a Fear

Sources and Citations

 * http://www.personal-development-is-fun.com/anxiety-fear.html