How To Use Fear To Your Advantage

Happy New Week Socialville fam,oh, happy democracy days in arrears too .

 

Going through most articles and commentary online as Nigeria marked its democracy day yesterday ,I found out that most Nigerians are now living in fear although most people will deny this but the reason for this is not far fetched; The reality of the crumbling economy is on us and both individuals and private companies can feel the impact.This is indeed frightening as people are daily loosing there jobs and price hikes in almost every commodity.

So this got me doing some soul searching and in return brought about this article.

 First off,Fear is defined as “a distressing emotion aroused by a threat, whether the threat is real or imagined.”

Fear in itself is not completely a bad thing,but this only depends on how you handle it, so permit me to share a few tips on how to use fear to your advantage;

1. Turn your fear into your motivation .

This has really helped me a lot. At each point in my life when I become really terrified of a certain thing I turn it around and make it a point of motivation. For instance, at a point in my life I was terrified of ever having to look for a job,so I learnt all the skills that I could in other to be my own boss and today I'm better for it.

2.Connect the feeling of fear with success. 

Fear is the prelude to potentially great things. Think about any successful moments in your life and they were probably all preceded by fear—getting the big promotion, Passing your waec/jamb, landing the contract etc. When you find you’re resisting something that you know could be good for your life, you know you’re on the right track.

Once you spot fear in any of its forms,  

3. Work out the worst-case scenario in your head. Chances are if the Investor or interviewer rejects you, you won’t lose a limb or die. The only thing worse than the worst-case scenario is no action at all. Make the call, send the email, approach the person, and don’t wait. Time is not your friend. 

4. Use the physical reaction that fear induces. When we feel fear, even though we’re not running for our lives, we still feel a degree of adrenaline—increased heart rate, tensing in the muscles, sharpened senses—the exact opposite of being relaxed and comfortable. Now is the time to act. 

Be it a phone call, an email, or approaching someone in person, once you dive in and get into action mode, the outcome is never really as bad as the scenario we’ve created in our heads. And then we wonder why we waited so long to do such a simple thing! 

Practicing the behavior of controlling fear with action will begin to make you stronger and more confident in asking for—and getting—what you want to succeed.

Feel free to share how you've been able to overcome your fear in the comment box below.

Have a great week ahead and don't forget to share this article among your social circles.