Why You Must Name Your Fears To Conquer Them
“Named must your fear be before banish it you can.” (Yoda)
Fear is one of the most pervasive obstacles to the personal growth of the vast majority of people. This is why we must be able to understand our fear and become intimate with it, so that we can feel it and move past it.
What do we mean by “name our fears?”
What we mean by naming our fears is that we must identify what our fears are and then practice awareness over them consistently, over time.
It really boils down to this:
- Becoming aware that we have a fear.
- Naming and labeling that fear.
- Practicing awareness over that fear.
- Taking practical steps to overcoming that fear.
Why is labeling our fears so important?
Labeling our fears is important for a number of reasons:
We can’t overcome a fear if we can’t label it.
At the most basic level, there is no way that we can overcome a fear that we have if we don’t label it and become aware of it.
Fear, in general, takes place through the mechanism of unconscious thought. Therefore, the solution is to bring conscious awareness into the equation.
If we don’t label our fears, they control us.
Do you want to be in control of your fear or do you want your fear to control you? This is a choice that we all must make.
Nothing good comes out of having our fears rule us. Instead, we must learn how to become skillful at the art of exposing our fears and then taking steps to get over them.
Fear → Crappy Results
By coming from a place of fear, we have no other option but to create crappy results within our lives.
In my opinion, no great work comes from a place of fear. Instead, great work manifests as a result of coming from a place of love and deep embodiment.
Fear is often illusory.
The vast majority of our fears are merely illusions being played on us by our ego.
Imagine that, you allowed your ego to hold you back from the potential of something happening that will likely never happen.
This is what you want to avoid if you want great results in life.
Fear isn’t a great way to live life.
Let’s be honest, dealing with fear is absolutely draining from all perspectives — it drains us of our money, time, physical and mental energy, enthusiasm, so on and so forth.
For this reason, we must really get to understand fear and how it works within ourselves at the deepest level possible.
Instead of living our lives fro m a place of fear, we can learn to live our lives from higher consciousness values — enthusiasm, hope, positivity, joy, gratitude, ecstasy. mindfulness, the list goes on.
Below, we’ll discuss the process of how to name our fears in detail.
The Process Of Understanding Our Fears
Becoming aware that we have a fear.
This is often where the vast majority of people get stuck because unconsciousness is the default for most.
How can you become aware of a fear if you are unconscious the whole time throughout your day?
Just understanding this process will begin to open your mind to new perspectives and allow you to start the process of developing awareness in general.
Here are some practices that can help jump start the process:
Mindfulness meditation
Journaling
Psychotherapy
Exercise
Naming and labeling that fear.
After we can star the momentum of developing awareness, we can begin to uncover what our fears actually are and then begin to label them.
For this, we must ask ourselves questions that get to the root of our fear such as:
“Why am i feeling this fear?”
“How did I acquire this fear?”
“What about myself can I learn from understanding this fear?”
For example, we may have a fear of judgement. But, this fear of judgment manifests in the form of shyness and wanting to avoid interacting with other people that you don’t know too well.
Don;t underestimate the power of labeling your fears for what they really are because they will give you a lesson in understanding yourself at the deepest level.
Practicing awareness over that fear.
Now, this step is much different than the first that we mentioned because this is awareness used as a deliberate practice over your specific fear.
For example, if I had a fear of rejection then I would write down that fear and post it on my wall for me to wake up to every morning. This is a practical way in which you can develop awareness over an issue or fear.
A second way is to become aware of the fear when it manifests in real time.
For example, if you fear rejection from an attractive woman as a man then notice how you avoid interaction with any attractive women when you go out. notice how your mind and body responds in the smallest ways so that you can get an understanding of how this fear is hindering your personal growth.
Practicing awareness over the fear means to consciously bring up the fact that you fear x on a consistent basis, until the fear eventually dissipates.
Taking practical steps to overcoming that fear.
This is where the practical work is done.
For example, if I fear rejection from talking to an attractive woman then I must go up to an attractive woman and talk to her. This is to be done over and over again, exposure therapy, if you will.
If I fear public speaking then I must go and do some public speaking.
If I fear letting go of the habit of vaping then I must make a decision and take steps to stop vaping immediately.
This is where the rubber meets the road.
Conclusion
Assuming that you can follow this process, you will banish your fears. Now, there is a healthy amount of fear to have that is completely natural and normal.
What we’re doing with this process is removing the unnecessary fears that hold you back from your own personal growth and power.
