Fear the very essence that makes us human beings can either make or break us. For me whenever I am put in a situation in which I'm uncomfortable with I choose to deny that it even exists because just as Calvin (from Calvin and Hobbes said).
Image by quotesgram.com
However after working at Thriving Talents I have come to realise that I can no longer Tai Chi (avoid) my way out of things I am afraid of, therefore as we are drawing close to the end of the year it's time we face our demons as we say goodbye to 2016.
Below are three things I've learn to conquer - or in some small part learn to live with, my fears .
1. Familiarise yourself
We can't solve a problem if we don't know about the problem and I think overcoming your fear works very much in the same way.
For me I have had the fear of speaking with my superiors and voicing my opinions for the longest time.
Back when I was interning, the fear was very overwhelming that I found it absolutely difficult to ask for help or more clarification when carrying out a task. I would also not talk to my boss unless I was spoken to and when I was spoken to I usually said yesses or alright and tried to get out of the conversation as quickly as I could.
After skirting around my boss and always asking my colleagues when I needed more help, I’ve realized it would take me twice as long to get a job done as opposed to simply asking my supervisor for more help.
Acknowledging that I have a problem, I then began to familiarize myself with it, uncovering the reason to me being so afraid of speaking out. Through a series of questions and a whole lot of reflecting I’ve come to realise that I did not like the feeling of being shot down and being made to feel small.
2. Just Wait Five Seconds
They say it's the beginning that's the hardest. When every fiber in your body is telling you to run. Tell yourself to calm yoself.
We've always tried to get into a fight or flight mode. I think sometimes we just need to be on silent mode and wait until our heads are cleared before taking any sort of action.
I've found that saying to myself all is well seems to calm me down. Got this trick from the 3 idiots movie -one of my favourite movies of all time.
Image from nairaland.com
3. Join A Support Group
Being able to overcome a part of your fear no matter how small is a big deal, thus you would need to celebrate it to ensure that you send a message to yourself to continuous look for new ways to better yourself. But what’s the point of celebrating if there is no one to share it with.
You would need someone to support you, to help encourage you and ensure that you continue to always flip on the fight switch whenever you encounter an unreasonable fear.
Those are the few things I'm practicing to get over my fears. However I have yet to overcome my fear of flying cockroaches so if any of you have any tip it is much welcome!
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