What to Do With Fear?

   What Do You Fear?

Many years ago, we canceled our family’s satellite TV.   Why?

Many programs portray negativity and fear. I didn’t want to feed junk into my mind and my family’s mind. I can still stream via the ‘Net and I’m not oblivious to world events. I watch what I want to watch when I want to watch it. The TV doesn’t draw me into fear-focused shows. 

Many weeks ago, I already decided not to watch any news channels about COVID-19 – most are negative, based on fear and on top of that – a lot of it is fake news.

Here is the main point – if you let negativity into your space – it’s easy to be afraid of just about everything.

Many of you have heard the research that more than 98% of the things we worry about every day never happen. And, in the majority of cases, you have little or no influence on the 2% of events or situations that do occur.

This is not to say we never should be concerned about potential danger; we have an instinctive response to physical danger. I speak here of psychological fear or constant worry, which benefits no one—especially the worrier.

Fear weighs heavily on your thoughts and sucks the life out of you. It paralyzes your mind. You can become stuck in a pit of fear, unable to think or function. That also severely hinders your creative abilities.

Have you ever met an individual who was constantly fearful? What did that do to your level of energy and the enthusiasm of the others in the room? It drained it, right?!

Yes, right now at this time there is lots you could be worried or fearful about – but how does that help you?  The fact is that it does not!

Like success, fear is a mindset. If you are watching 24-hour news channels, it is difficult to feel free of fear.

Fear and Faith Cannot Co-exist!

In essence, FEAR is negative goal setting and you using the power of intention in a destructive manner. If you worry enough about your marriage falling apart, it will. If you constantly fear your kids will get into trouble, don’t be surprised when that happens. Those are self-fulfilling prophecies!

If you or someone you know is gripped by fear, what do you do? I have outlined some ideas in the Action Steps.

Action Steps

Purging Fear?

1.  To purge fear, we first must be aware of the things we constantly worry about. Take a moment to make a list of them.

    

   2.    What is feeding your fears and worries? The news, family members, friends, your belief system? Pay attention to what you are letting into your mind. Make a commitment to cut your sources of negative input. Turn off the negative news channels and limit your time with negative – fear centered individuals.

   3.    I predict some of you actually fear getting over your fear because it has become a convenient excuse for you. If you stay in fear, you have a reason for failure or lack of success.

   4.    Look at the list you created for question 1. Of all those fears, how many are likely to come to pass? As the research revealed, most of our fears (98%) won’t happen. Being aware that most of what we worry about will not happen is an important step to letting go of our fears.

   5.    Replace your fear with faith and thoughts of success. Seek books, ezines, podcasts, friends, and other sources of input that help create and reinforce positive outcomes and mindset.

   6.    For some of you, the battle between fear and faith is spiritual. To overcome your fear, source what your faith teaches in this area.

   7.    If you still need help to break free from fear, envision the exact opposite of each of your fears. Go somewhere quiet where you can be alone; relax and put a positive picture in your mind. For example, think of a having a successful and healthy relationship instead of a marriage breakdown or having an exciting new position instead of being without a job. Pay attention to your emotions. See how much better it feels to be in a positive state than in your worry mode.

   8.    Always focus on what you want, not what you don’t want. Make a list of what you want and concentrate on the list.

   9.    Get started now on your Action Steps. Don’t wait a week, a day, or even an hour!

   10.    Purge your FEAR. Replace it with courage and confidence! Yes not easy but worth it.

Until next time, keep Living On Purpose.

Ken Keis