how to be fearless by doing it anyway
Become fearless by taking on fear head-on
What is the true definition of being fearless? For some it would be getting rid of fear completely and that is unrealistic. As a child, I was terrified of heights I started having to deal with being mundane and knowing that one wrong step could lead to death. A little
For the longest time like most people I believed that being fearless meant I wasn’t afraid of anything. People would chat about the topic and talk about fearless people. It was an elusive thing to be fearless, only champions could hold that card at events and I hoped I would be like that. Absolutely fearless andit took me a long time to realize that there’s no such thing as fearless people.
Yes, we follow our favorite celebrities of influencers, we watch them from a distance and they look fearless. That is how they became successful. Right. By being fearless. No, they fought their fear by doing it anyway. This is a new mantra I am learning to implement in my daily life. To do something despite the fear
creeping in.
We are all human, therefore we all have fears. For some our fears stop us from climbing new heights. For others, it freezes us in place and makes us contemplate our worth or value. Then there are others who ignore or listen to their fear. Choose to do it anyway, despite the fear lingering in the corners of their minds. How exactly can you be fearless?
What does confidence mean to you?
Even if we struggle with confidence, we all have an idea of what it looks like. When I thought about confidence as a kid it was a person who would smile even
when the world gave them a hard time. To be a confident person was one who lifted their head in adversity, worked hard even when they saw no result and
who understood their worth.
If you want to be fearless, you need to learn that you need to keep going for gold even when you feel as if you deserve silver. We all love watching the
Olympics and the thing is we all want our favorite to win the gold. Sometimes that doesn’t happen, but we do admire anyone who manages to make it
to the Olympics. In the beginning, when the Olympics were first starting out in Greece, those who were favored by the gods where the ones who made
it to the Olympics.
The thing is especially with the Olympics is there’s no guarantee that the people competing will win anything, but they still keep going. And that is what it
means to be confident. You have to do something even when the odds are not in your favor and there’s a likely chance you will fail. You need to do it anyway.
Also Read: Tony Robbins on The Importance of Being Fearless
Don’t compare yourself
Many of us fall into the comparison trap, maybe because of habit or to reassure ourselves that we don’t have what it takes. This is what stops us even before
we have even become. The problem with comparing yourself is that it never stops. To be fearless you need to learn that you will never be person X even if
you were to walk a day in their shoes.
Comparison is also the thief of joy, sure we do it because we think we have to it. But once we do that, we hit a slump. We start asking questions that put us in
a box and prevent us from stepping forward. Comparison is a confidence killer, because that is what it is created to do. Since, we were kids, we have been
compared to our classmates, neighbors and anyone else between. We have been taught to compare ourselves and that is how we figure out what our worth
is through comparison.
Sure, it won’t be easy to stop comparing yourself. If you want to be fearless, you need to understand you can’t change who you are. Our experiences,
relationships and mistakes make us who we are. If that is the case then unless you have the same exact experiences, made the same mistakes and have
had similar relationships to the person you admire you will never be that person.
Tell your inner critic off
Many of us are our own worst enemies. Our critic tells us how royally screwed we are and instead of telling it to take a hike, we nod in agreement. There’s
nothing wrong with acknowledging our mistakes, but once we allow those mistakes to define us that becomes a problem.
Your inner critic tends to be worse if you see yourself as the creative type. That inner critic doesn’t ever seem to shut up. No matter, how many times you
try to. It keeps chiming away as if it understands exactly what to do to break your core. All you want to do is scream for it shut its pie hole and it refuses to
listen.
Still it is possible for you to tell your inner critic off. You can’t truly be fearless, at this point, it is clear there’s no such thing, but you need to fail forward. I
know what you are thinking, why would anyone want to do something if they know they are going to fail. Often, what we are afraid of isn’t as terrifying as we
imagine it to be. To fail forward, it helps to write down the reasons you believe you are going to fail. Next to it, write down what will happen if you fail.
Once you realize that an avalanche isn’t going to happen once you fail, you will feel more confident.
Do it anyway
One of the best ways to be fearless is to do it anyway. I know that might sound simple, but many of us tend to forget that when we are starting something
new we are going to be afraid. There’s no way you can escape that. No matter, how many times you want to do it. But we can become confident in our skills
if we keep doing it even if scares the crap of us.
In the beginning, I mentioned how I am starting to use do it anyway as a mantra to help push me out of my comfort zone. Many of us are terrified of stepping
out of our comfort zone. That is why you need something to help you step forward.
Even when you are scared, do it anyway. If something is holding you back, remember that often the reasons for not doing something don’t hold up in court.
Does it hold up in court
A lot of fearless people take their insecurities, reasoning and fears to court. Basically this means asking yourself questions to get to the bottom. You need to
figure out what is holding you back so that you can move forward in your life.
This could be anything from your mistakes to your relationships or even your insecurities. When you do this you will start to understand yourself a whole lot
better and you will realize that our reasons don’t measure.
Here’s a perfect example, as a kid I used to watch a lot of final destination and that is why I was afraid of going on roller coaster rides. I believed that it would
crash to the ground and I thought the same thing with the elevator. The escalator had more to do with me slipping and falling. I took my fears to court and
realized that they didn’t measure up.
This is one of the best ways to be fearless so that you can go after your dreams regardless of where it takes you.
Also Read: How to Face and Overcome Obstacles?
One shoe size doesn’t fit all
What makes you tick, get out of bed in the morning, smile even when you don’t want to do it or work on your projects despite feeling as if you are
not good enough? Reminding yourself of why you are doing this is always the best way to kick yourself in going forward. One thing you need to know in
being fearless is that one shoe size doesn’t fit everyone.
What makes people unique is our experiences and perception. We all look at things differently and that makes it special in away. Therefore, the reasons
why you do something are unique to you. You might not have a big reason in bold red letters, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t count. It doesn’t mean
that it doesn’t matter just because it is a small reason.
The reason why we do something, often makes fear seem not that terrifying. I spent years going to theme parks and going on terrifying rides. It wasn’t as
if I wasn’t terrified and I made a fool of myself too many times to count. I did it because I knew that if I didn’t I will always be terrified. My experience won’t be
yours. My journey isn’t the same as yours. My perception will be completely different from yours, but one thing that remains the same is that we all struggle
with the what-if question. What if I just tackled my fear? What if I was fearless? What if I still did it anyway despite the fear?
That question gets us all the time. It is better to do something and not spend a life of regret, then to always wonder how your life would have turned out if
you did something. Ask yourself why do you want to do it and that is enough to push you to push back the fear.
Find your support group
One of the best ways to be fearless is to be around people who support you. We all need cheerleaders. People cheering us on the stands and that usually inspires us to keep going. Once we know that we have people who have our backs it makes the journey a lot more interesting and exciting.
Being fearless is all about going for something that is out of your reach, but it is a lot easier to achieve it when you have people who are encouraging you to go after it. Imagine if they were no spectators on the stands in sporting competitions. Would you still be willing to compete against each other? Would anyone really care?
If athletes require to support, what more us. If you were to go back in time, you would notice the times when you did the best was when you had people who supported you.
If you want to have the traits of a fearless person you need to find people who can encourage you when times are hard and you have no clue what to do next.
What is your main takeaway from the blog post and what is preventing you from going after your dreams? Comment below.
Keep Pushing
Vanessa
