Let Go of Your Fears... and Live

By Rose Costas

“Only when we are no longer afraid do we begin to live.” – Dorothy Thompson

ARE you, like me, constantly thinking, planning or worrying about the future and what it has in store?

Do you think about your financial situation and if there will be enough money to live a decent life? Do you sometimes worry that you will be alone and unhappy? You are not alone.  

Pic by www.quoteshunger.com

These are only a few of the many questions that flood our minds daily and for which we have no answers. We have chosen to live our lives in fear.

We have chosen to hold ourselves captive by the fear of the unknown.

It is fine to feel fear, as it is a natural emotion. But fear was never meant to keep us from going after our dreams. Fear should be your motivator, not your downfall.

Most of us are being held in bondage by fear.

Let go of all your fears and go out and live your life to its fullest. Make the decision today that you will no longer live in fear, but while you are working on achieving your goal you will enjoy life.

Here are a few tips that I practice that could help you to rid your life of fear.

1. Write down your fears

Writing down the things you are most afraid of will give you tangible evidence of the things you need to work on.

Try to find out why you’re so afraid of these specific things and if they are currently happening to you. If they aren’t, then they might never be a part of your future either.

Don’t be driven by your fears.

2. Live in the moment

Do not worry about the future, as your future is every minute you are alive, and if bad things are not happening to you, then they most likely won’t.

This moment is all you have and this moment, believe it or not, is your future.

You are living in the future as you live minute by minute. The trouble is you are looking at yourself 10, 20 years down the road, and not at your ‘now’.

3. Do not project your misery

When you spend your time worrying and fearing the unknown you are projecting your misery that you think you will have then, now. You are torturing yourself prematurely and without reason.

If you are happy now, why then are you worrying about the day you won’t be happy? Live in the moment, because this moment is all you have and might be all you will ever have.

4. Tame your mind

If you allow your mind to take control of you, it will.

Your mind is like an untamed animal and must be restrained to remain under your control. You must discipline your mind to stay within the limits of what is good, positive and healthy.

Do not allow your mind to take you places that you do not want to go. Stay on familiar ground or places that bring you the happiness and the joy you want.

If you are beginning to feel sad, worried or fearful, remove your mind from that place and go back to a place of tranquility, positive vibes and happiness.

5. Don’t shift the blame

It is nobody’s fault you are unhappy, sad, fearful and or worried. It is all yours. You choose to allow your mind to go to places you do not belong.

Just imagine you have suffered a bad divorce or broken relationship. The first thing you are going to say is, ‘Why did he or she do this to me?’ No, instead, ask yourself, ‘Why am I doing this to me?’

Nobody is doing anything to you. You are the person in control of your emotions, and you are the one who is allowing yourself to feel this way.

6. The past is kind

The past is over. The pain and hurt are behind you. The past is very kind to us because it leaves. It is the past. Everything will be in the past some day.

None of what you are currently going through will last forever, and in a few weeks, months or even a few years you will look back and it too will be in your past.

The past is very kind as it keeps getting further and further away from you. The pain - even though great - is becoming a distant memory, and soon it will be remembered no more.

7. The future is amazing

The future is as bright as you want it to be. Think of the pain in your past and how wonderful you are feeling now, at this very moment. Isn’t it wonderful when you can feel this good?

That is the reason the future must be viewed as wonderful and pleasant.

Whatever you want your future to be, live as though it is, because it can be, if you want it to be. The future is amazing and fabulous because it is here now.

We all fear the unknown at some point or another in our lives, but none of us should allow those fears to keep us down.

Overcome your fears by being courageous enough to pick yourself up when you hit rock bottom. Falling is not the end and doesn’t mean you are a failure. Quitting is failing.

About the Author

Rose Costas is a big believer in the power of facing your challenges head on, and that boldly wearing your scars can help others triumph over their own challenges.

An accountant by profession with a passion for writing and blogging, Rose can help you to get back the fire that once burned within you, starting with her eBook “31 Ways to Build Your Confidence Today.” At www.positiveattitudesforlife.com

This article first appeared at http://www.successconsciousness.com

Article source: http://tiny.cc/3rjpzx

How to make hard choices: with Ruth Chang

By John Lee of YourBestYouEver.net

EVERYONE faces difficult choices and decisions from time to time. It's a sign you're making progress and moving ahead with your life.

But that doesn't make things any easier. No-one can do it for you.

Philosopher Ruth Chang, speaking at TEDx

And applying logic - as anyone who's tried this will know - can end up confusing the issue even further.

To the rescue comes Harvard Law School graduate and philosopher Ruth Chang, with this video presentation, recorded at TEDx in New York in May.

Among the subjects she covers are:

* What makes a given choice difficult - and it's not as simple as you may think

* Why hard choices are not always big choices

* Why logical techniques, such as comparing 'pros and cons', don't always work

* The misconception created by fear of the unknown

* The problem of taking a scientific approach to values and emotions

And

* The reason why hard choices are not only good for us but empower us too!

There are some great observations in her thinking and some invaluable information.

If you've ever had to make a hard choice - or there's one coming in the future - take a look.

You're bound to feel better about the decision you made or the challenge ahead!

Just click here now: http://goo.gl/veaqQ6

7 Fears Most Likely Sabotaging Your Dreams & How to Deal With Them

By The Personal Freedom Project

LET'S jump straight into this one.

1. Failure

Fear of failure stops you from doing the thing you really want to do, procrastinating and keeping yourself doing everything else except the thing you really want to do or NEED to.

I know because sometimes I do it too. (Yes I’m human.) Get over it by:

* Remembering why you wanted to do what you're doing in the first place

* Setting mini-targets

* Asking – What’s the worst case scenario?

* Positive Thinking 

Feel the fear and do it anyway!

 

2.  What others might think or say

In my opinion there are 2 sides to this, you may not agree with me:

* First – no-one cares what you do because they are too worried about their own fears to worry about you. (Not always but mostly)

* Second – someone will always have something negative to say, based on their own fears, that really never has anything to do with you!

* Third – I know I said 2 sides but here’s something else you need to know - you limit yourself by worrying what ‘others’ think.

Heck everyone might just be happy that you decided to do something that you really want to!

Yes, the haters will still be there. Do it anyway. Give them something to say. They’ll think what they want, in any case.

 

3. Accomplishing goals & dreams

If you're fearful about being successful you are not alone. This is one of the obstacles that holds many others back from taking action. How to get past this:

* Find your purpose. Find people who have already accomplished what you want to do – join groups, forums and build up a network so you can get support. Have you joined my Facebook community yet? AND liked the page?

* Inspirational, kick-butt-into-action materials – like positive thinking books, audios or videos.

* Develop the skills required for you to accomplish your goals by taking courses and reading books.

 

4. Fear of rejection

We all fear being rejected and this has probably come from past experiences mixed with the fear of the unknown. You don’t think you're good enough, mixed with what others will think.

It's going to happen at some point. Accept it and embrace it so that if and when it happens you can get up and move on.

To do this, have your goals in place, so if you are rejected you remember what you went after - what you wanted in the first place. You can get up and keep moving forward.

Visualize how you want things to be, then take action.

 

5. Making mistakes

Mistakes help you learn lessons that help you make better choices next time. Mistakes are there to help you. As harsh as that may sound, we all make mistakes.

It's how you respond to them that makes the difference. If you're held back by making mistakes, realize it's part of your learning journey. Listen to what ‘feels’ like the right thing to do… then do it!

 

6. Fear of the unknown

Our accomplishment at anything requires that we step into the unknown. Things don’t always go as planned and they’re not supposed to. As I’ve heard it quoted before “replace fear of the unknown with curiosity.” 

I’ve tried it too and it helps, when you're afraid to take action because you don’t know what the outcome will be. What will happen when you take that next step? What will happen if you don’t?

 

7. Change of career or (anything else for that matter)

OK, so you love your current job but want to become a writer, guitar player or, heck, you just want to own your own property empire.

Because your family matters. Right?

You and your sanity matter. Right?

And when you find your purpose, you will want to start something new.

 

Questions to ask yourself to get you over your fear of starting something new:

* Am I scared to fail?

* Am I afraid of what others might think or say?

* Am I scared of making a success of it?

* Will others reject me?

* Am I scared to take the next step?

* Or am I letting the fear off the unknown stop me?

If there are any ‘yes’ answers here, you might want to read what I previously wrote above for each ‘yes’.

 

Pain vs Fear

The pain of staying where you are in your current circumstances has got to be greater than fear of moving forward! That’s when the magic happens.

 

Time

As for time and being committed to your ultimate destination, yes I know you're limited to a certain amount of hours each day. You work, have kids, chores to get done and so many other things going on'

But taking some steps each day towards the bigger picture - the lifestyle and the freedom - will be absolutely worth it in the end! Small steps count too.

Action

You must adopt a new habit of doing things in your life, even if you don’t feel like doing what will lead you to where you want to go.

But it’s going to take work – good purposeful, meaningful work and planning that you will enjoy and whenever you see results you will feel a sense of deep satisfaction. Your life is short. Too short.

 

Now feel the fear and do it anyway.

Article source: http://tiny.cc/7Fears

Are You Struggling with Resistance?

As Carl Jung – the founding father of analytical psychology – one famously stated, “What you resist, persists.”

And if you’ve ever tried with all your might to put a difficult incident, situation or relationship behind you, only to find it coming back time after time, his words will ring true.

This sense of ‘struggle’ that we often experience when we resist a particular outcome is the subject of an email that dropped into my inbox the other day from Dr Robert Anthony.

A psychotherapist, NLP practitioner, master hypnotist and personal performance trainer, with over 30 years’ experience, Dr Anthony is one of my personal heroes.

Not only does he impart incredible wisdom, in my view, he’s authored some of the finest personal development products ever seen.

Products such as The Secret Of Deliberate Creation, Self Confidence Creator and Deliberate Creation Instant Self Hypnosis – all well worth investing in, as I have myself.

In the meantime, however, below is that email. I hope you find it both interesting and beneficial:

“Breakthroughs do not happen when we are stressed. They happen when we finally let go and stop struggling. Resisting is at the heart of struggle.

Although what we are resisting feels like it is ‘out there’ the resistance is really inside of us. That is, if you are resisting anything, you are really resisting yourself.

When we resist something we increase the amount of struggle in our lives and this in turn increases how much scarcity we experience.

When we resist, we make things harder than they have to be. By making things difficult we create struggle and prolong getting where we want to be.

We make things complicated because we are afraid to decide. It is partly our fear of the unknown – what will happen if – and partly our fear of making a mistake.

The excuse I hear most from my clients is that are afraid they may make the ‘wrong’ decision.

There is the fear that somehow they will permanently be locked into the consequences of their choices.

But consider this for a moment. What if there are no ‘wrong’ choices, only choices. Even if we don’t make the best choice, we will be guided to what we need to learn.

All great athletes understand this concept. They know they can only anticipate so much, but have to make constant instantaneous decisions IN THE MOMENT as each new situation arises.

So who wouldn't want to stop struggling? More people than you can imagine. I struggled for most of my life with the illusion of struggle.

The power of any illusion is its ability to keep us thinking the illusion is real.

When you give up struggle it involves letting go of both the past and the future to activate what is needed right now.

It is not your hard work that creates the results, but your ability to give up struggling and forcing things to happen.

Flow happens when we accept and embrace ‘WHAT IS’. Flow happens when we release our death grip on resistance and insistence and instead step back and take more conscious actions.

Flow is the lack of resistance. It is effortless. The magic in life is believing in possibilities and the getting out of your own way.

Today will bring you a new awareness, a lesson or a manifestation that you are making progress – IF YOU LOOK FOR IT!

Truly Caring for Your Success!

Dr. Robert Anthony."