Conquering One's Fears

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by Joan Winthorp

Fear is a barrier towards living one's life to the fullest. All people fear something. Some people fear death, getting married, closed areas, being alone, spiders, cats, dogs, etc. It is normal to fear; however, there are certain phobias or fears which could really be hindrances in living one's life normally, and these should be treated.

Fear of tigers, for example, is a fear that is not necessarily going to affect one's daily life, not unless he lives in the jungle where tigers abound. However, if one is a newly promoted business executive and his job would entail that he take regular trips outside the country through plane and he is afraid of flying, the fear poses a much bigger problem than usual. It would actually affect how a person would live his life and affect his future.

There are a lot of people who are being pestered by their phobias as they live their everyday lives. This article tries to give some tips on how one can overcome his fears.

Conquering one's fears is all about changing one's mindset towards the cause of fear. This is why it is very important to do something about phobias.

1. Know the source.

Most phobias are brought about by traumas or traumatic events that happened to someone. For example, if a kid was bitten by a dog, there is a possibility that he would develop a fear of dogs when he grows up. Although we know that traumatic events cause phobias, most of the time, these events are far from being obvious and are deeply imbedded in the unconscious. The brain tries to cover these events up to be able to cope. Hypnotherapy can be helpful in uncovering the sources of phobias.

2. Exert a conscious effort to change the mindset.

Conquering one's fears is all about changing one's mindset. Once the mindset towards the fear object is changed, then the fear vanishes. It may seem difficult to do this, but all it really takes is a certain event that has impact, a changing event. For example, a person who is afraid of flying may conquer his fear of flying once he has landed safely on his first flight. This event will change all the misconceptions and turn the fear into excitement, as he looks forward to another flying event.

3. Accept things that are meant to be.

There are certain things that are inherent to every one of us, and these things can sometimes lead to phobias. For example, one has asthma and his experience as a kid is that when he touched their house cat, he experienced a traumatic asthma attack, thus having a phobia towards cat. Now, for him to conquer his fear, he should take into consideration the fact that he has asthma and his lungs won't allow him to get close with cats. If he really wants to conquer his fear of cats, he can take preventive measures for his asthma. He can wear a protective gas mask perhaps or see his doctor first.

4. Have positive reinforcement.

Negative reinforcement will do no one any good. Trying to discourage oneself from conquering his fear will leave him in the dark for all time. He should give himself a pep talk before trying to do something that would conquer his fear.

These are only a few tips on how to conquer fear and phobias. Remember that it's all about mindset and it's all internal. One should not live in fear and should live his life to the fullest.

About the Author
Fear defeats more people than any other one thing in the world! You can find out more how to master your fears and phobias and use them to your advantage at: http://www.overcome-fears-and-phobias.com

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