Fear is a reality of human life whether we like it or not.  There are many factors that can invoke fear within us, such as: our immediate environment, business dealings, relationships and many other aggravating life occurrences.

If you allow it to, fear can paralyze your everyday forward movement by influencing your thinking and responses to everyday life occurrences. On the flip side, do you know that you can turn your fears into a source of inspiration to do more and be more in life?

Here are 5 steps to embrace your struggles and conquer your fears to lead a happier more fulfilling life:

1. Acknowledge your fears

The first step to handling and conquering your fears is acknowledging what truly makes you anxious and fearful. Doing so will help you separate the unfounded fears from those that actually warrant your concerns.  Remember, fear itself, has also been known as, false evidence against reality.

When you analyze your fears, it will help you understand whatever agitates you doesn’t actually have to happen. More so, you’ll be able to develop some fail safes to cushion yourself for the worst case scenarios. For instance, if your biggest fear is losing your job, you can go ahead and position yourself both psychologically and financially for the instance it does happen.  Remember, always adopt the mentality of looking at the glass half full, one door always closes for another bigger and better door to open.

“One of the greatest discoveries a man makes, one of his great surprises, is to find he can do what he was afraid he couldn’t do.” – Henry Ford

2. Embrace your mistakes

We are all prone to err at some point in life. But it’s only when we embrace our wrongdoings that we can actually rectify the misdeeds and move on in life. According to Carol Dweck, a Stanford psychologist, individuals who readily embrace their mistakes are more likely to be successful in comparison to those who live in denial. In fact, accepting one’s misdeeds is an integral step to developing a growth mindset.

In a nutshell, having an open mind when it comes to owning up to your mistakes helps explore new options in life without the fear of failing. That way, failure comes along not as a catastrophe, but a vital data point that can help you far into the future.

3. Erase negative imprints in your life

Some traumatic occurrences in life can no doubt leave you shaken and fearful. If you have ever been in an accident, for instance, driving a car may stroke fear within you. Or perhaps you have a failed business venture and just the thought of getting started again evoked a fight or flight response.  

After all, it’s natural for human beings to avoid circumstances that have previously put them in harm’s way. It’s important to understand that some things in life are unavoidable and that you need to overcome the fear if you want to lead a quality life that’s not dogged by your past issues. You can best achieve this by erasing all negative occurrences registered in your mind and consequently focusing on what propels you forward. If you take the loss of the business that happened a year ago as a learning experience , for instance, you’ll be able to fail forward fast, pick yourself up by the bootstraps and carry on to your next venture.

“Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you’ll start having positive results.” – Willie Nelson

4. Learn to say no

Many of our worries originate from having to deal with non-complex situations that we could say no to right from the start. Often time’s people feel compelled to respond immediately to Facebook messages, emails and meetings that are not of high priority and essentially add to missed deadlines, poorly done work and of course the fear of losing business.

It’s most people’s goal to not be seen as rude and uncooperative, but it’s only fair to respond with a no when the circumstances demand. As Seth Godin once said, you make your partners temporarily happy by a cheap yes or you can simply change your world by saying no quite often.

5.  Ask For Help

It doesn’t matter who you are or what you do, at one point or another in life we all need help with something. The most successful people in the world today know that if they are the smartest person in their sphere of influence, then they need to level up their associations. Asking for help shows you are a reasonable, coachable HUMAN being. Asking for help allows for you to avoid the same mistakes others have had and essentially can reduce your fear of failure.

Bottom Line, embracing you fears is a magic wand to prosperity and goal achievement. As you start to recognize what makes you anxious and fearful, you’ll develop the skills to conquer it.  As you continue to grow, you’ll learn how to embrace your struggles, develop a failsafe strategy and conquer all your fears.

How will you conquer your fears? Please leave your thoughts in the comment section below!