In my last few posts, I’ve been talking about how fear can lead us to procrastination and avoiding, which gets in the way of us fulfilling our responsibilities and being able to take opportunities that are presented to us. Once you have recognized that you are actively avoiding, and have challenged the worst-case scenario thinking (if you have no clue what I’m talking about, see my previous posts), the next step is to take action. When we take action we start to feel better. When we feel better, we are better able to handle the challenges life throws at us.
Here are some simple steps to begin taking action:
Start small
First, create a list of activities that are connected to the fear or anxiety and rank them from what causes the least to the most amount of anxiety. Then pick one of the activities from your list that causes a lower amount of anxiety to start practicing.
Repetition
You want to repeat the activity you are practicing over and over until you notice that the anxiety is more manageable. When you repeat the activity you are giving evidence to yourself that you are able to do what you are afraid of and you are ok.
Keep Going
Continue with the activities on your list one by one, moving from what causes less anxiety to more anxiety. By doing this, you are training your brain to realize that you are able to manage and see progress in being able to face the fear.
The goal here is not to feel no anxiety ever again. It is to help make the anxiety more manageable so that it does not keep us from pursuing new dreams or taking risks.
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