You’re reading 5 Ways to Keep Moving Forward When You’re Scared to Death, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.
Fear is the most powerful factor that prevents you from being able to realize your full potential. Most often, it’s a result of your own thoughts and imagination, instead of actual real world causes. In other words, you’re afraid of a fantasy – something that doesn’t exist. You may be going down an untrodden path, but don’t lose faith. Don’t listen to your fears and also of those around you. Don’t let your shortcomings and setbacks make their way into your present frame of mind. And most importantly, never give up on what matters to you. It’s okay to feel a bit uncomfortable, a little confused. It’s totally fine if you don’t know what lies ahead or whether you can handle it. As long as you keep moving slowly and steadily, you’ll figure out what you need to know. As you get more and more involved in what you’re doing, you’ll lose track of your fears and realize that things are not as bad as you had imagined. In fact, they’re much better. Here are 5 ways to steer your life around all the unnecessary fears and uncertainties in life, and keep moving forward.
1. Envision what you want and declare it
Whether you’re afraid or there are actual real-world barriers, if you want to achieve something, you must envision it and declare it. This will enable you to stay focused on what you want. It’s impossible to accomplish anything or get anywhere if you haven’t declared it as your sole mission. The first step is to understand that what you want is already a huge part of you. For example, if you ‘want to’ run a marathon, you’re already a marathon runner. You just need to take the next step, and run. Whatever you want to do, imagine yourself doing it, and declare it out loud, “I will …”. Do this the first thing in the morning for a couple of minutes everyday and you’ll begin to see the difference within a 2-3 weeks. “If you can imagine it, you can achieve it. If you can dream it, you can become it.” – William Arthur Ward
2. Know the consequence of staying where you are
Fear stops us from leaving our comfort zone, and persuades us to maintain status quo. However, inaction based on fear only leads to laziness and lack of confidence. Initially, it will stop you from achieving. Eventually, it will stop you from doing anything. Just as your present is based on your past, your future is dependant on what you do today. The fear of failure can be immense but it’s nothing compared to the regret of missed opportunities that you’ll encounter in future. Life is movement. Don’t stay where you are hoping that things will improve on their own. “Life Is Like Riding a Bicycle. To Keep Your Balance You Must Keep Moving” – Albert Einstein
3. Believe in yourself
The foundation of every successful venture is self-belief. What you believe will strengthen or weaken you. We tend to think that success depends on where we live, or a certain level of accomplishment, or a bunch of external factors; it’s simply a mindset. Success is a habit that is developed through powerful beliefs and thoughts. What you think about your life will influence your feelings, your actions and your achievements. Growing your self-belief takes time and requires practice. Spend a couple of minutes everyday thinking about the top 2-3 achievements of your life. They can even be about simple things such as how you learnt to drive, cook, paint, or anything that you love doing. If you are capable of accomplishing them, you’re definitely capable of doing greater things. “Whether you think you can or whether you think you can’t, you’re right.” – Henry Ford
4. Take it slow, but keep going
Focus on taking one step at a time, and giving it your best shot every time. Don’t think too much about the end or the future. Just keep going. When you focus only on one step at a time, things appear to be much more doable, and you won’t get overwhelmed by the long journey ahead. Every once in awhile, look back at how far you’ve travelled to stay motivated. However, you’ve got to start today. Don’t wait for the right time or the perfect plan. There are no such things. Remember that nothing will ever result in a 100% failure. You may experience occasional setbacks and might need to do course correction. The good news is that each setback can be fixed with a minor adjustment, and you can keep going. Every step you take will make the next one easier, and what once seemed unreachable, will be standing right in front of you. “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step” – old Chinese proverb
5. Be open to change
When we set out to achieve something, we tend to have a preconceived plan, an imagination of how we’ll accomplish it, and what we’ll encounter along the way. As we work towards our dreams, we find that the reality is not as expected and that we’ve to face unforeseen obstacles. The key is to keep an open-mind that fosters learning new things and refining our journey based what you learn. However, under no circumstances, be willing to compromise or change your goals. “When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don’t adjust the goals, adjust the action steps.” – Confucius
Wrapping up
Don’t be afraid to face your fears. They’re not as scary as you imagine them to be. They’re certainly not here to stop you from realizing your dreams. They’re only there to tell you that what you’re doing is really important and worth fighting for. Take each day as it comes. “Do one thing every day that scares you”. – Eleanor Roosevelt
You’ve read 5 Ways to Keep Moving Forward When You’re Scared to Death, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’ve enjoyed this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.
