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What is preventing you from the relentless pursuit of your most cherished dreams? Is it fear of circumstances? Are you keeping your dreams on hold thinking that as soon as your situation changes you will seize the opportunity and go for it?
If that is what you’ve been telling yourself then you might want to examine your situation a little further. Is it possible that there is something else holding you back?
Could it possibly be some underlying fear that you haven’t quite come to grips with?
Don’t let fear rob you of your dreams
There is an incredible array of fears that can influence us in many subtle and deceptive ways. So much so that we often don’t even recognize their existence. Besides, even if we do recognize their presence, it does not necessarily mean that we will have the courage to break through those fears and take action.
Sometimes, we knowingly allow fear to stand between us and our dreams. Sadly, if we do that long enough, chances are, we will eventually abandon our dreams and rationalize our choice with logical sounding excuses.
This does not need to happen to you. You don’t have to allow fear to hinder your actions and destroy your dreams! With a simple shift in perspective, you can learn to transform that fear energy into excitement and use that positive energy to your advantage.
Which side do you focus on?
Learning to shift our focus away from what we stand to lose, and toward what we stand to gain, will completely change our perception of the situation. This simple shift can quickly leave us feeling more courageous and eager to take action!
Many people are in the habit of seeing the negative side of any challenging situation. If we focus more on how big the challenge seems, instead of the potential benefits, we will resist taking action because all we can see is the potential, negative risks involved. The more we focus on the possibility of loss the more fear we create.
With this kind of mindset, wanting to move forward toward our dreams probably won’t provide enough incentive to overcome these fears. As a result, we will continuously hold ourselves back and end up accomplishing far less than we are capable of.
What are the positive and negative possibilities?
You may find it helpful to make a list of any specific fears you have and get them out in the open. In each situation that leaves you feeling hesitant or fearful, try to evaluate exactly what is holding you back. What is it that you are afraid will happen and why? Are those things really likely to occur, or is there only a slight chance?
Then use a separate sheet of paper and create a list of the benefits you stand to gain by moving forward. Be as specific and optimistic as you can. Remember that dread and fear will amplify your perception of the negative possibilities, which can make the positive benefits seem significantly smaller or less important. So, you may need to work a little harder at emphasizing the positive.
Use this information to make a balanced decision
Looking over these two lists should give you a more balanced view of your options. It will also provide the clarity you need to decide whether to move forward or not. You may decide that you have valid reasons to hang back a bit longer, and it’s perfectly fine as long as you aren’t allowing unrealistic fears to decide for you.
If you see that the possible negative consequences are more than you are willing to accept at this time, you can either come up with some less risky options, or simply hold off and reevaluate at a later time. Deciding to back off can require just as much courage as deciding to move forward, but in this case, your decision is based on sound reasoning rather than emotional paranoia.
Don’t let fear get in your way
If you do decide that the time to take action is now, you may still need to work at building up your courage a bit before you act. Creating a well thought out plan of action will go a long way in this area. Remember, the only person with the power to hold you back, or move you forward, is YOU. At its core, courage is largely the determination to conquer any fear, hesitation or excuse that attempts to separate you from your dreams.
Whatever you do, don’t try to convince yourself into believing that you have to be completely fearless before moving toward your goals! The most successful people in the world would openly confess that they eventually had to be resolved to move forward despite their fears and feelings of uncertainty!
Courage is absolutely a choice, and fear does not have the power to rob you of your dreams, motivation, and strength unless you decide to let it.
