Practice Stretching Yourself

09.03.2023 |

Episode #10 of the course 10 Strategies to Overcome Your Everyday Fears by Frank McKinley

 

Welcome to Lesson 10! You made it. Congratulations!

You’ve learned some incredibly valuable tools to help you overcome your daily fears. And if you’ve used them, I’m sure you’ve begun to see the difference they can make.

However, you can’t use these tools for 10 days and expect them to take care of you for the rest of your life. You’ve got to practice them over and over until doing them becomes second nature.

With that in mind, here are 10 ways you can practice overcoming fear every day. You don’t have to use them all; however, the more you use, the more courageous you’ll be!

1. Schedule it. Set a goal every day to do something that scares you a little. Talk to someone you don’t know. Ask for something you’ve been putting off. Whatever it is, make sure it moves you toward a bigger goal you’ve set for yourself.

2. Push yourself a little more. Instead of doing 10 reps with your weights, go one more. Write one more page or paragraph in your book draft. Send one more prospect email. Courage grows when you push yourself further than you thought you could go.

3. Jump in right away. Mel Robbins says you talk yourself out of courage in less than 5 seconds. Start before you have a chance to change your mind and you’ll beat your fears.

4. Learn something new. You empower yourself when you have more choices about how to deal with life. Learning something new is scary at first because you don’t know that much. Consider it an adventure and enjoy stumbling into mastery.

5. Go first. Taking initiative is an incredible fear breaker. The natural thing to do is wait for someone else to take the lead. Why don’t you? If nothing else, when you have an idea, share it. By sharing, you’ll confront your fear of rejection. Who knows? You might get agreement and find people ready to help make your idea a reality.

6. Help someone else overcome their fear. You grow when you share your hard-earned wisdom with someone else. We’re in this life together; whenever we lift someone up, we empower them to use their talents for the greater good.

7. Power pose for 2 minutes. For extra power, do this in front of a mirror, if one is available. However, it’s not required. You can do this at home before leaving for work, in your office restroom, or in a secluded corner whenever you need a confidence boost.

8. Get enough sleep. You’ll resist the urge to cower under fear when you’re well-rested. Find out how much sleep you need to thrive and get it, every night.

9. Reframe your fear. Fear and excitement feel the same in your body. Singers Carly Simon and Bruce Springsteen both felt intense fear before performances. Simon saw her fear as a reason not to perform. Springsteen saw his fear as a sign he was ready to give his best performance. The choice is yours!

10. Remember failure is feedback. So is success. You can learn from both how to approach the same situation next time. Detach yourself emotionally from the outcome, whether good or bad. What you always get is results. Consider it data you can use to master your craft, whatever it may be.

 

Congratulations!

You’ve finished the course!

Use these strategies for 21 days and they will become habits. It will be as natural as your daily drive to work. You won’t think about it; you’ll just do it.

I wish you the best as you go and make your biggest dreams come true!

 

Recommended book

Fear: Essential Wisdom for Getting Through the Storm by Thich Nhat Hanh

 

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