My husband and I decided to do something out of our comfort zone for our twelfth anniversary, so we went ziplining. The tour was three hours long in the beautiful forested mountains. The tour started with eight of us, which included six guests and two tour guides. After the two “practice” ziplines and one repel, two of the guests chose to no longer participate. It was interesting to me to see how each of us perceived the same situation. One of the women who chose to no longer participate was paralyzed in fear, while my husband was filled with excitement. For me, I was scared, but wanted to fully take in the experience of trust and letting go. After conquering my fear and following through with the adventure I felt a deep sense of empowerment. I was amazed how after the experience I felt a surge of excitement over overcoming other perceived obstacles towards achieving my dreams. Here are ten tips to help you overcome obstacles and break through fear. ~Sara Holliday MFT, CPT, HHP
Ten Tips to Overcome Obstacles and Break Through Fear
- Identify what you fear. What is it that is holding you back? What are you afraid will happen if you do the thing you fear the most?
- Try something else that challenges you. For example if you fear quitting your day job to follow your passion, then do something else that scares you such as ziplining, a hot air balloon ride, or skydiving.
- Reframe your new challenge as “fun” or as an “adventure”. Just by reframing your fear as an adventure will positively change the way you feel. Tell people about the “adventure” you are going to do, and tell them you are really “excited” about it, versus “nervous”.
- Follow through with the your “adventure”. Many people say they will try something, but when it comes time to taking action they get fearful and make excuses about why they can’t do it, or they give up before they try it. Do what you say you are going to do, and follow through with conquering your perceived challenge or fear.
- On your “adventure”, tell yourself “this is fun!” With positive self-talk you will push through your fear and find excitement in the “adventure”.
- Acknowledge what you accomplished and how it made you feel. By accomplishing something you feared, you will likely feel stronger and empowered. This feeling will likely make it easier to make progress with your original fear or obstacle.
- Identify what steps you need to do to accomplish your original fear or obstacle. Breaking down your fear into a series of steps will make it easier for you to achieve.
- Reframe your original obstacle as an “adventure”. Remind yourself that you had fun doing a different adventure you feared, and you will do the same with this adventure.
- Take your first action step towards your original “adventure”. Once you take your first action, you will find the momentum to move forward.
- Praise yourself. With each action step you achieve on your “adventure” tell yourself positive messages such as, “I can achieve anything I focus on.” Or “I am confident in my abilities.”