Mastering Your Fears

Perhaps the greatest challenge you will ever face in life is the conquest of fear and the

development of courage. Fear is, and always has been, the greatest enemy of mankind. When

Franklin D. Roosevelt said, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself,” he was saying

that the emotion of fear, rather than the realty of what we fear, is what causes us anxiety,

stress, and unhappiness. When you develop the habit of courage and unshakeable self-confidence,

a whole new world of possibilities opens up for you. Just imagine-what would you dare to dream

or be or do if you weren't afraid of anything in the whole world?

Develop the Habit of Courage

Fortunately, the habit of courage can be learned just as any other habit is learned, through

repetition. We need to constantly face and overcome our fears to build up the kind of courage

that will enable us to deal with the inevitable ups and downs of life unafraid. The starting

point in overcoming fear and developing courage is to look at the factors that predispose us

toward being afraid. The root source of most fear is childhood conditioning, usually associated

with destructive criticism. This causes us to develop two major types of fear. These are the

fear of failure, which causes us to think “I can't, I can't, I can't,” and the fear of rejection,

which causes us to think “I have to, I have to, I have to.” Our fears can paralyze us, keeping

us from taking constructive action in the direction of our dreams and goals.

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The More You Know, the Less You Fear

Fear is also caused by ignorance. When we have limited information, our doubts dominate us.

We become tense and insecure about the outcome of our actions. Ignorance causes us to fear

change, to fear the unknown, and to avoid trying anything new or different. But the reverse

is also true. The very act of gathering more and better information about a particular subject

increases our courage and confidence in that area. You can see this in the parts of your life

where you have no fear at all because you know what you are doing. You feel competent and

completely capable of handling whatever happens.

Analyze Your Fears

Once you have identified the major factors that cause you to feel afraid, the next step is to

objectively define and analyze your personal fears. At the top of a clean sheet of paper,

write, “What am I afraid of?” Remember, all intelligent people are afraid of something. It

is normal and natural to be concerned about your physical, emotional, and financial safety

and that of the people you care about. A courageous person is not a person who is unafraid.

As Mark Twain said, “Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear—not absence of fear.”

What You Should Do

Begin your list of fears by writing down everything, major and minor, that causes fear, stress,

or anxiety. Think about the parts of your work or personal life where your fears might be holding

you back or forcing you to stay in a job or relationship in which you are not happy. Once you

have written down your fears, arrange them in order of importance, and then pick them apart one by one.