10 Effective Ways To Let Go Of Your Fear

Letting go of fear is crucial for living a fulfilling and successful life. Here are ten ways to start letting go of fear today.

By Cassie
10 Effective Ways To Let Go Of Your Fear

Why Letting Go of Your Fear is Crucial for Happiness

Some say that there are only two real emotions: fear and love. We are either acting out of fear or out of love. Those that act out of fear usually exhibit anger, jealousy, depression, and other uncomfortable feelings. Those who act out of love show compassion and kindness. Although it is far more rewarding to act from love, many of us have a bad habit of acting from fear. It’s normal to have fears. Experiencing fear is part of being human. However, constantly reacting out of our fear can have detrimental effects on our relationships, environment, and dreams. Experiencing constant fear can be crippling and painful. Here are ten ways that you can start letting go of your fears now.

1.) Ground Yourself

This is a crucial first step to letting go of fear. When we are fearful, we are usually focusing on worst-case scenarios of the future. Our fears come from thoughts of “what if” scenarios that constantly run through our head. For example, we could be thinking, “What if I don’t get the job?” or “What if my girlfriend breaks up with me?” In many cases, these worries are unfounded. We have no proof that those things are going to happen. We have no idea what the future will bring, so worrying about these things just wastes time and energy. Our fears are illusions; they are future scenarios that we make up in our head but don’t actually exist. That is why living in the present helps us to lose many fears. When you are focused on the present moment, it is easier to see what is real and what is an illusion. The act of grounding yourself will bring you back to the present moment. So how do you ground yourself? The best way is to spend time in nature every day. It’s especially helpful if you can walk barefoot on the Earth. This gives you a direct connection to the Earth’s grounding energy. If that is not an option (due to issues such as weather), then try meditating, deep breathing, taking a cold shower, or visualizing tree roots connecting the soles of your feet to the Earth.

2.) Acknowledge Your Fears

One of the most important steps in healing is acceptance. Acknowledging that you have fears is crucial for the letting go process. Many people spend most of their lives running away from their fears. They spend time, money, and energy numbing their feelings with drugs, alcohol, television, etc. because they don’t want to feel anything painful. However, ignoring and running away from your fears only makes them worse. When ignored, fear will just continue to grow, and you will only become even more miserable. Acknowledgement is not a complicated process. As you go along your day, just notice when you start feeling afraid (or any painful emotion). Take a mental note of how you feel and tell yourself that you are acknowledging the feeling. It may be beneficial to talk everything over with a trusted friend, family member, or counselor about how you feel. Having emotional support can make the acceptance phase much easier as you won’t feel so alone.

3.) Realize Fear is a Choice

Yes, sometimes things can get tough. Life throws curveballs at us that we don’t expect. However, our success and well-bring are not a result of how we have had it, but how we handled each tough situation that was thrown at us. Realizing that your emotions are a choice and taking responsibility for your emotions is the key to success. This is the reason why some people succeed, and others never even attempt their dreams. Some people choose to be victims. They choose to enclose themselves in their fear. Others choose to work through their fear, have courage, and act out of love. Those are the people who succeed most at life. Fear does not just go away on it's own. Letting go of fear and other painful emotions is our choice, as is our ability to feel happiness and joy.

4.) Journal

One of the best ways to let go of your fears is to write them all out. Journaling is personal, so you can do it any way that you want. The best tip for journaling is to not hold back. Write down everything. Write out all your thoughts, fears, memories, and every other detail that you feel like putting down or is relevant to the situation. Journaling is a great therapeutic tool when you can’t talk to someone and you don’t know how to deal with the painful emotions that are coming up. The benefits of journaling are numerous. The very act of putting the situation down on paper releases the emotions associated with the situation. Instead of holding in all your fears, you are acknowledging them. By writing them down, you acknowledge that they exist, but you don’t want them controlling you anymore. Furthermore, once you have our fears written down, you can analyze them from a different perspective. When you are controlled by your fears, it’s hard to analyze them and heal. However, by putting them down, you separate yourself enough from them to start the healing process.

5.) Affirmations

Sometimes we are stuck in our fears because we have programmed our brain to focus on the worst-case scenarios. When we have such a negative mindset, we tend to affirm things that cause fear and anxiety instead of focusing on the positive. For example, we may keep telling ourselves that we are unlovable and will always be single, which can perpetuate feelings of depression and the fear of being alone. Affirmations have become extremely popular in the past few years as a way of reprogramming our brains to focus on the positive. They are a great way to let go of fear and embrace happiness, positivity and joy. Instead of telling yourself that you are unlovable, affirm that you are lovable. Repeating this affirmation over time will improve your confidence and feelings of self-worth, and therefore, reducing the fears of being unlovable or alone. Affirmations are a great way to shift you perspective from fear to love and many people have had incredible success with them.

6.) Be Grateful

When life is hard or when you are consumed by fear, it can be hard to see the blessings in life. But finding light in the darkness is another important step when letting go of fear. If you only focus on how bad everything is, you will stay in a state of darkness and fear. Even when life does improve, fear will have such a strong grip over you that you won’t even appreciate the blessings and changes that come. That’s why it’s important to find the blessings in life, no matter what is going on. Finding things to be grateful for puts you back in a state of love and appreciation for life. You focus more on the positive and there is less room for fear. Being grateful for what you have helps you realize that your life isn’t so bad after all, and there isn’t any reason to be afraid. If you can master being grateful when things are rough, then you will be even more joyful when your life begins to turn around.

7.) Start Letting Go

One of the biggest fears that people have is the fear of losing control. We would like to believe that we have control over our environment and our future. However, this isn’t the case. Things can change rapidly and life can throw us curveballs. Needing to control everything only makes these situations worse. Letting go of control opens you up to countless possibilities. Those who are not open to change have a much harder time adapting than those who are. To find happiness and peace now, lose the need to control everything. Situations have to work out in their own pace. People need the freedom to be themselves. Being controlling of these things only creates more drama and fear. Furthermore, as life goes on we may find that letting go of situations or people are necessary to achieve our dreams and find happiness. This can be a scary process as we are jumping into the unknown and drifting out of our comfort zone. However, letting go of these things makes room for even better people and situations. Let go of all attachments and you will find peace and happiness.

8.) Believe in yourself

This is absolutely crucial to letting go of fear and loving yourself. Many fears have roots in low self-worth. We are afraid to pursue our dreams because deep down inside we don’t think that we are good enough to achieve them. We tell ourselves lies that we are too ugly, old, stupid, fat, etc. and therefore, we can’t work towards our dreams. This is a lie. Every single person on this planet has the ability to make their dreams come true. When you put yourself down, you lose out on opportunities to better yourself and work towards your goals. The most successful people love themselves and believe that they can achieve anything. They don’t quit when things get tough and know they can get through any situation. Do yourself a favor right now and start uplifting yourself. Be your #1 cheerleader and believe that you can do anything you set your mind to. Confidence is the key to success and happiness and is a great solution to dealing with fear.

9.) Pursue Your Dreams

As mentioned before, fear is the main reason people don’t fulfil their dreams. However, a great way to overcome fear is to start taking baby steps towards those dreams. Take a class, learn a new skill, read some inspirational books, sign up for an online dating site. Just take baby steps towards what you want. You don’t have to take huge steps right now to accomplish your dreams. You can take it slow. But any step towards your dreams is a step in the right direction. Each step will bring about more happiness and confidence, leaving less room for fear. You will begin to realize that many of your fears were unfounded and you will begin to live in a state of bliss and joy. Don’t worry about what others think. Just go out and do what makes you happy.

10.) Give Love

Remember, that no matter what happens, you should love yourself and others. When you are in a loving state, there is no room for fear. Be compassionate, kind, and understanding to all those you interact with. No matter how they treat you, treat them with love. Most importantly, love yourself! Love yourself no matter what you have done, or what you are feeling. If you still act out of fear, love yourself anyway. Without love for yourself, fear will reign. So spend time each day giving love to yourself and the world and you will find yourself becoming fearless.

Go Out and Live Fearlessly

Letting go of your fears is one of the greatest acts of self-love you can do for yourself. Fear is what keeps us trapped in unhealthy situations and from pursuing our dreams. All people have fears and having fear is normal. However, the most successful people know that letting go of fear is essential for success and happiness. It can be hard work at first, especially if you are in a bad habit of always being fearful and negative. However, consistently following these steps will bring about positive changes in your life and more inner peace.

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