Overcome fear by embracing uncertainty

If you are always thinking about what would people say? Or what if you can’t meet the expectations set on your projects? That is fear speaking for you. It’s time for you to learn how to overcome fear by embracing uncertainty. There is nothing wrong there, uncertainty will give you an edge in the battle against fear.

That is a 4 inch spider according to Mary Clark, who took the picture. If I cold overcome fear and post a huge spider here, you can do it too.

Realize uncertainty is a good thing

I hate to say this, but being certain about an outcome is not good at all for you. All this time certainty has done for you was build bigger walls between you and your dreams. Certainty built an illusion of safety around your life. Since you were certain of the outcome you would get with your actions you stayed in your comfort zone.

Uncertainty on the other hand builds endurance. Each time you don’t know what’s the outcome of your actions but you still take responsibility and act based on your will, you win a battle against fear. You win more tolerance for doubt. You get more power to send all the naysayers home wondering why your willpower is so great. You will turn every opportunity in something that can help you grow. Oh, and overcome fear.

Shed the illusion

The sense of security that you have build with your actions is a wonderful thing, but it is another test. Each time you feel secure about everything you have you should put it into doubt. The world is in constant change, in fact I believe the only constant int he world is change itself. To be able to adapt, stay strong and thrive during truly chaotic times you need to train yourself everyday.

It’s time for you to embrace uncertainty now that you are still standing and in great condition. Now that you feel secure it is the best time to start shaking your foundations. You will build endurance and once life throws you a curve ball you will have a strong mind and a will of steel to truly overcome the hard times.

You know that shit happens all the time, so the sooner you start training for your future, the better.

Your training to overcome fear starts here

To overcome fear and start clearing your mind from all the dust security has left there, it’s time for you to take concrete actions to build up your endurance and get used to the discomfort uncertainty brings you. Start with these actions:

• Start something new: Always wanted to do something but were afraid of doing it because it was silly? Start it now! Take the first step to get the idea into the real world, it doesn’t matter if it is stupid or there are people who think it’s not good. Remember you no longer compare to other people, so their judgments can’t affect you.
• Change the way you do something: you take the same route to work everyday? take one left instead of the normal route. Do you always code using the same software? use another one even for a very small project. The idea is to add a small level of uncertainty over an action that you already know by heart. The risks are limited but they are there.
• Go somewhere else, even for just coffee: A friend of mine always bought her morning coffee at Starbucks, one day we took her with us to a small local coffee shop. She loved the coffee and attention over at the new place. She never went back to Starbucks, not because their coffee were bad, but because she found something new. She took the opportunity without knowing what could happen.
• Bring the fight straight to fear itself: It is a fact and a confession, I’m afraid of spiders. But one day and thanks to a friend I went to one of those pet stores that let you be with the animals and I made myself a tarantula in my hands. My mind was rushing with a lot of ideas, and at some point I was about to throw the tarantula away from me. I was uncertain of everything, but now I won’t run out of any room with a spider.
• Learn something new: It doesn’t matter if it’s in your field or not, but anything new will help you add endurance to your life. You will win another skill and feel a bit awkward because you are not as good as you thought in the new task. Don’t worry you will get better but you had a little dose of fear.

These are some of the steps you can take to embrace uncertainty and train yourself for the great moments where your mind must stay strong and really focused. The idea is to get you used to choose without knowing everything you need. It’s a training that you can do almost everyday to overcome fear, a skill you will need in the future.

Turning fear into your fuel

When you are afraid of something it is time to get ready for battle. Fear will now turn into the alert that tells you it’s time to get something done. It’s time to learn something new and put your training to the test.

The best example I can give you about turning your fear into something that moves you to build amazing things comes thank to Jonathan Fields and his book Uncertainty
. In his book, he gives the example of a Erick Proulx who embraced uncertainty in a big way, going from copywritter for a great agency to unemployment and then became a filmmaker. he could give up in any moment, but went ahead and turned a difficult situation into a wonderful one. A wonderful read, I truly recommend you get Uncertainty: Turning Fear and Doubt into Fuel for Brilliance you will get a great weapon for your journey and you give me a nice coffee.

If you take your fear as an indicator of the coming opportunity, you will certainly learn to stay strong during the difficult times. You will learn one of the best skills that you could ever have because it doesn’t matter how or when the world change, you will be ready to stand up and move again.

Start training now and overcome fear to build a better you right now, and don’t forget to share this post with those you care for. Give them the weapons to become better and more adaptable, and as always win a bit of good karma for your life.