How to Face Your Fears (With 10 Motivational Quotes)

How to face your fears with quotes

The notions of facing your fears, overcoming fear anxiety, and finding ways to face your fear can be daunting at times. 

Facing fear can be challenging because fear is not always constructive. Fear is labeled as “false evidence appearing real.” It’s not a real thing that can be measured on paper. 

Fear may be  a four letter word, but that word has been wired within our psychology since the dawn of time. The term “fight of flight response” is related to fear. It is a reaction that occurs when we perceive harmful events that are about to face us.

Learning to confront your fears is the best solution to move forward towards clearer options in life. 

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The 5 Top Fear Conquering Truths (How To Conquer Your Fear)

Dr. Susan Jeffers talked about fear in her book “Feel the fear and do it anyway”.  Here is a summary of the fear truths she discussed:

Fear truth #1: Your fears are normal and it’s OK to be afraid.

Fear is a natural part of life. As long as you grow, the feeling of fear will continue to resurface in your life.

Fear will never go away. Once you take a step into the unknown, you will experience fear.

You must stop saying “When I’m no longer afraid, I will do what I need to do.” You’ll be waiting for the right moment until eternity (which will never come).

Fear is part of life. Jump in and do it anyway.

Fear truth #2: It’s best to start taking actions to face the fear.

When you jump right into your fear you will decrease your anxiety and become more confident.

Life is too short to live it just by existing. Standing around and waiting for fear to go away will not help.

You must take action and face your fear and do it anyway!

F.e.A.R.= False Evidence Appearing Real

Fear truth #3: Face fear by doing what you’re afraid of.

It’s not helpful to simply let fear take over your life. It’s more productive to stop feeling sorry for yourself and your situation and to take action.

Once you conquer fear in one area, strength will surface and life will improve.

Fear in other areas might come around again, but by that time you would have built yourself to be a stronger person. You can handle more fear.

Fear truth #4: Everybody feels healthy fear.

You are not alone in feeling afraid in this world. Everybody else feels afraid from time to time. Rich people, poor people, strong people and weak people… they all feel afraid at times. 

The difference is that successful people feel fear and face it.

Fear truth #5: You will grow when you face your fears.

A little bit of fear is good and helplessness can be a killer. It’s better to push through your fear than to wait around feeling helpless or becoming a slave to the concept of worry.

Once you push through your fears, you will get relieved and gain strength. 

Life is nothing but a challenge after another. You must learn to face those challenges. They will eventually allow you to grow. Otherwise, you will only be reacting to life rather than living it fully.

10 Inspirational Quotes On Fear (With Motivational Pictures)

1. “Too many of us are not living our dreams because we are living our fears.” (Les Brown):

2.  “When you are afraid, do the thing you are afraid of and soon you will lose your fear of it.” (Norman Vincent Peale):

Quote-on-fear-norman-vincent-pale-instagram

3. “Feel the  fear and do it anyway” (Susan Jeffers): 

Susan Jeffers quote feel the fear and do it anyway

4. “The only Thing We Have to Fear Is Fear Itself” (Franklin D. Roosevelt):

Roosevelt-quote-the-only-thing-we-have-to-fear-is-fear-itself

5. “We must travel in the direction of our fear.” (John Berryman):

We-must-travel-in-the-direction-of-our-fear-quote-Instagram

6. “Where fear is, happiness is not.” (Seneca):

Where-fear-is-happiness-is-not-Seneca Quote Instagram

7. “I failed my way to success.” (Thomas Edison):

Thomas Edison Quote I-failed-my-way-to-success Instagram

8. “Love is what we were born with. Fear is what we learned here.” (Marianne Williamson):

Marianne-Williamson-fear-quote-Instagram

9. “You have to let it all go, Neo: Fear, doubt, and disbelief. Free your mind.” (Morpheus- The Matrix):

Matrix-fear-quote-Instagram

10. “The enemy is fear. We think it is hate, but it is really fear.” (Mahatma Gandhi):

Mahatma-Gandhi-best-fear-quote-instagram

Steve Jobs on fear before he died. Apple founder Steve Jobs knew a thing or two about fear. In his last speech before his approaching death of pancreatic cancer at the age of 56, and knowing that his mortality was real, Steve jobs delivered some very touching words about life, fear, and death.

Here’s an excerpt. 

Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. (Steve Jobs)

10 Best Tips To Help You Face Your Fears

What are your fears?

Our fears can range from complete helplessness to wanting to change something for the better in order to avoid pain. 

Your fear may be based on ideas or thoughts about perceived dangers. You may be afraid of growing old and being poor, or you might be afraid of talking to strangers.

Whatever it is, you can help yourself in facing those fears.

(1) Give yourself time to relax more.

In order to relax more and lessen your fear around things you cannot  control, stop thinking about things that are going around and around in your head. Be alert as to why you are tense.

Our fears can debilitate us. Learn to relax more.

When your anxiety triggers appear in your head, avoid them by immediately shifting your thoughts to something else.

Be aware of what you’re doing and be relentless to cut off that negative thought process.

READ MORE: 23 Perfect Stress Relief Gifts For Stressed Out People.

Sometimes there’s a psychology associated with relaxation. Other times it’s all physiological. I find that the physiology factor is easier to control than the psychology one because you  can instantly reduce your stress and add to your relaxation.

Not all stress is bad. Some stress can have a positive effect, since it indicates the need for change. 

An example of thoughts that lead to a panic: You sometimes wake up in the middle of the night with what feels like a panic attack. What were you thinking about immediately after you woke up? Was it money problems? Was it a troublesome relationship? Was it work?

Counter the fear by relaxing your body. Sometimes you can help your mental thoughts with your physical biology.

(1) Relax your muscles. Before going to bed, take a hot bath and allow your body to be completely relaxed.

(2) Prepare for sleep. Stop the intake of caffeine a few hours before going to bed.

(3) Activate your growth hormones. Stop eating at least 3 hours before going to bed. A stomach with not so much food to digest while you sleep will work with your body much better than one with food that needs to be digested.

(2) Take mindful deep breaths.

Your goal here is to be present with your breathing pattern and to break that negative thought process.

The way to do this is to concentrate on your breathing. This can work when you feel that you may be experiencing any form of panic over your thoughts.  

(3) Ask yourself: Could it be worse?

 The answer is always YES. It could be much worse.

You must put things into perspective you will realize that your situation could be much worse.

Always try to be grateful for what you have. You have it much better than a lot of other people on this earth.

It’s always very humbling when we think of how other people live in the world. Some don’t even have food, or a roof over their head, or peace and quiet.

(4) Challenge the thought with “What if?”

How would you know if things are going to fall into place? You would not know until you go through the fear.

What if you just went with what you need to do and not worry about the fear? What if something happens? Will you starve? You probably will be OK. 

(5) Avoid perfection. 

Perfection is not something you can touch and feel. It should be measured in terms of progress because nobody and nothing is truly perfect.

Avoiding perfection is wise. Going for progress and small increments of improvement is much more rewarding (and realistic) that being disappointed when perfection is not attained.

Instead of aiming for perfection, try to not put yourself in stressful situations.

Try to give yourself credit for being human and try to complete something rather than waiting for everything to be perfect. 

March on. Do not tarry. To go forward is to move toward perfection. March on, and fear not the thorns, or the sharp stones on life’s path. (Khalil Gibran)

(7) Visualize a better situation.

There’s nothing worse than losing hope. Without hope we tend to get really scared and less productive.

When you’re faced with bad situations, try to think of the events improving in your life. How would it feel to have that burden off your shoulder?

(8) Share your anxiety.

Sometimes it helps to share thoughts and feelings with people you trust. It takes a lot of some of us to truly trust someone, but if you can’t find a person who is close to you, then consider sharing your anxiety with a professional. 

READ MORE: How To Change Your Life In 21 Days (Get Motivated in 6 Steps).

It helps to share your anxieties, especially when you’re trying to reach a conclusion of a solution about something.

This is not only to gain a new perspective on the situation, but it’s also (and more so) to validate the change that we need to work on in our life. 

(9) Get focused by eating healthier and organizing your chaos.

Eat well. Aside from the occasional workout, walk around the block, or staying physically active when possible, it is recommended to stay focused by avoiding foods that will get you into addictive mode.

Encourage healthy eating habits. Sugar is one culprit that can be very damaging to your focus.

Try to keep your sugar and empty carbohydrates intake low. One way to stay super focused is by adopting healthier diets (i.e. ketogenic diet). If your doctor tells you that a keto diet is not best for you, surely he or she will recommend another more suitable food regimen that will restrict processed foods and processed sugars. 

Organize your surroundings. It’s extremely refreshing to go through an organizational phase of your surroundings. It will keep you focused when there’s not much clutter around you.

  • Look around and get rid of the clutter. Is there something you’ve been holding on to that has no purpose in your life and that you’re not using? If so, consider donating it. Is there something that gives you pain? Get rid of it.

What matters is the memory inside of you because let’s face it, we are NOT coming out of this life alive, and we cannot take anything with us when we go.

Keep your connection to “things” minimum, and concentrate on your connection to people. 

  • Keep what you need. Don’t hang on to things that are cluttering your space that you cannot let go because it costs money. Some people who are less fortunate may be very thankful to have these items donated to them. 

  • Do what I call the 1-2-3 ‘put away’ method. If you feel that there’s a lot of clutter around you, pick up 3 items and put them away on your way to and from that location in your house.

    Take break in between and rinse and repeat. This may take time but you will be done putting things away in a fun and game-like way.

    The more control you have over your surroundings, the better you will feel about your fear anxiety.

(10) Reward your efforts.

Take yourself out when you feel that you are doing something good for yourself or for your mind and body. Maybe you go to the movies with a friend (or just by yourself) and maybe you just enjoy a meal at your favorite steak house with a friend or with your own company.

Do something nice for yourself and try to enjoy life more.

Be nice to yourself all the time. This shows self respect. Think of yourself as a little child. Would you not love that child? Be that child to yourself. It will teach you to appreciate yourself more. 


Some Of The Most Common Fears Of All Times

Don’t think that your fear of (whatever) is irrelevant. It could be shared among millions of people. Here is a list of the top 10 most common phobias.

1. Social fears. A lot of people develop anxieties in social settings. Social fear being in large groups or speaking to a crowd. This is not abnormal at all.

The  image that comes to mind is someone having to come up on stage and freezing in front of a large audience. Why are they afraid? Perhaps this is more of a fear of being judged or ridiculed.

2. Fear of flying (Pteromerhanophobia). Because we know that death is possible, and injuring ourselves can result in death, the fear of flying becomes one of the most feared notions. It’s the ultimate loss of control of our own gravity.

3. Fear of heights (Acrophobia). This too is a type of fear where we dread the loss of control of gravity. Looking down and realizing that we can fall at any moment (thus get injured or die) makes some of us petrified of heights.

4. Fear of open spaces (Agoraphobia). This goes back to us needing shelter. We feel better when we have a roof over our head and walls that contain us. Open spaces may make us afraid because we are wired to need that shelter.

5. Fear of enclosed spaces (Claustrophobia). While some of us may fear not having walls and structures around us, others may feel fear around enclosed spaces.

We may feel pressure and even develop panic attacks when,  for example, we  are going up the staircase of a building and all of a sudden the electricity is shut off and we find ourselves in a dark staircase without light.

I know that I have felt that before, and no doubt many of us feel the pressure of walls collapsing into us (but it’s all an illusion).

6. Fear of needles (Trypanophobia). Needles are sharply pointed and can hurt. Needles are also  associated with procedures and illness, so no wonder that a lot of people don’t like them. You must  not have this fear if you ever need to  donate blood!

7. Fear of storms (Astraphobia). No doubt that many people fear not only being electrocuted (especially if you live in Tampa Bay, Florida, THE lightening capital of the world) but also fear of the extremely loud sounds that those storms make.

If you’re a war survivor with some form of PTSD, these loud storm noises can trigger traumatic events. The good thing is that the more you hear those storms without being in any imminent danger, the better you can disassociate yourself from the unknown and accept them for what they truly are.

8. Fear of dogs (Cynophobia). Dogs can bite. If you have a small dog like most of us do, you would probably feel that this is a silly notion.

Dogs come in various sizes. There are large bull dogs and small Chihuahua dogs. Nonetheless, this fear is mostly based on a projection of an injury by  bite inflicted by a dog.

9. Fear of snakes (Ophidiophobia). Bush Gardens in Tampa, Florida has a belly dancer show at the entrance of the Morocco exhibit, and often times the belly dancer is seen dancing with a huge live snake.

These snakes are tamed and trained for entertainment, but the projection of being killed by a poisonous snake is real and brings people to the show with shock and awe. 

10. Fear of insects (Entomophobia). I can think of a few insects that can be annoying and even deadly. Take fire ants, for example. They are all over the world and although they look so cute and small, they are annoying and painful if they bite you.

Other poisonous insects are inconspicuously hidden in small wall cracks or on trees, such as wasps, brown recluse spiders (their actual names).  I’m sure they scare a lot of people because of they can inflict a lot of harm. 

And let’s not really forget other types of fears that are purely based on psychology or a perceived  danger such  as an illness (cancer comes to mind) or a  potential health  problem.  

Other examples are the fear of failure, the fear of wanting to try something new (what if it turns out to be worse) and the fear of clowns (coulrophobia).

All types of fear can produce irregular heartbeat, panic attacks, sweating and nausea!

“The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one.”
(Elbert Hubbard)

Do Cats, Dogs, And Animals Feel Fear?

Animals feel fear too because of something they perceive as danger. They also may fear noises and things they cannot understand.

A cat being chased by a bored dog may have two options: Show her claws and hiss away or simply haul ass to save herself from potential  bruises.

Unlike animals, humans experience fear from various psychological sides. Almost  every person has  a fear of one thing or another. There  are phobias of things, fear of certain animals, or circumstances.

The one thing that differentiates humans from animals is that humans are more drama-driven. We are a lot more psychologically wired to the point where anything can trigger something unrealistic in our brain. 

As humans, we tend to over-analyze and think about things more than other living species.

The Bottom Line On The Notion Of Fear

Fear can be warranted at times because it can offer us a reaction to run away from danger and to keep us safe.

We are definitely wired to survive and to be afraid of physical or psychological pain, injuries, or death. 

When you are stranded in the forest and you start hearing loud animal noises, it might be safer to “run” and let the fear guide us into safety. 

Fear can also be a determent if it is the only thing that is guiding us in the day and age of modern technologies.

There are no lions living in our buildings who might want to come and have us for lunch, and there are such a thing as law and order. 

So, as Dr. Susan Jeffers says: “Feel the fear, and do it anyway”. The rest is just life, and life is truly a beautiful gift that has a physical time limit that will eventually expire.

Live life well because the most successful way to cope with fear is to size it in its place. When warranted, put incessant doubt and fear in a tiny space in your head, go do what you need to do anyway and leave the rest to sort itself out.

It all works out at the end. 

Be well.

 

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