How to Overcome the 3 Most Common Fear-Based Mental Blocks to Reach Your True Potential

Do not listen to your fears!

Several fear-based mental blocks are holding you back in your life. In this post, I will go through the three most common fears and suggest ways to acknowledge and face them to reach your true potential.

Fear leads to anger, envy, sadness, and other negative emotions. Just imagine how drastically your life can change if you start living with less fear.

1. Fear of Failure –

This is the most common failure. It is part of our upbringing, or should I say domestication? If you were told that failure is bad and that you should always succeed in everything you do, or were punished for failing, then you would be afraid of failure.

So many successful people tell us repeatedly that they failed so many times before making it, that they wouldn't be popular now if they did not learn from their failures, and tell us how failures are important

If you avoid failures, you are missing out on life. If you are not failing, you are not being outside your comfort zone; if you are staying in your comfort zone, you are not growing. If you are not growing, then what’s the point?

Looking back at your life, what do you want to see when you are old?

You lived your life to the fullest without fear of anything, vs you lived a sheltered life and did not try new things because you were afraid of failure.

For self-coaching, reflect on these questions –

• Why am I afraid of failure in this situation?

• What is the opportunity if I fail?

• What will I learn if I fail?

• What is the worst that can happen? Does that scare me?

  
  

2.  Fear of the Unknown –

If you are worried about the future over things not in your control, you are wasting your present. No one knows what will happen in the future, and stressing over it will not give you answers.

Change is constant, but people are often uncomfortable with it because they think they have life under their control in the present situation and are afraid of the unknown in a changed situation.

For self-coaching, reflect on these questions –

• What is making me afraid of the change?

• Where is this negative feeling coming from? Is it based on facts?

• What is the cost of staying where I am?

• What is the opportunity to adapt to the change?

• Which cost is more – staying where I am vs adapting to the change?

  
  

3.      Fear of being judged –

It is expected to be liked, but the fear of being judged can prevent you from showing up as your authentic self, eventually making your life miserable.

Some people will judge you; that’s what humans do. People judging is more to do with them than you! Are you telling me that you don’t judge others yourself? Other people's judgements are not in your control, so why ruin your day over them? Living according to your values is key to living your best life.

If you live based on other judgements and other people's liking of you, then at some point, you will start not liking yourself because you will not be your authentic self and will not recognize yourself after some time.

• What values am I not honoring by behaving this way?

• Why is it essential for that person to like me?

• How much of that person liking me is in my control?

• How can I behave authentically in this situation? What will it look like?

  
  

Your emotions can help you identify when you are behaving from a place of failure. If you feel negative emotions coming up, ask yourself what fear is leading to these emotions and address that fear first before reacting out of your fear-based emotions.