It sounds simple: If you’re tired of living the life you are living and know you are meant for more, just go out and get it. But there’s something invisible that stops a lot of people from doing exactly that: fear. We are scared of change, we are scared of the unknown, and most importantly we are scared of failing.
While it may feel like there are a million reasons why you should succumb to that fear you are experiencing, there are also a million reasons why you need to do the things that scare you. To start, here are 7 of them:
1. IT BUILDS CONFIDENCE
There’s no better way to boost your confidence than through accomplishments. When you do something that scares you and you are successful at it, this becomes one more thing you thought you wouldn’t be able to do but did – and you can be proud of it!
2. IT BECOMES YOUR NEW NORMAL
What you consider normal or part of your comfort zone today differs from what you thought was normal 5 years ago. This is because the more you do things that scare you, the more you adapt to a new reality where the things that used to scare you don’t anymore.
3. IT ALLOWS YOU TO GROW
Doing hard things that scare you serves as evidence for yourself of what you’re capable of doing, but they also serve to build up your character. Going through hardship, no matter how big or small, is always going to make you grow.
4. IT OPENS YOU UP TO NEW OPPORTUNITIES
Sometimes, the thing that scares you to do is the thing that is blocking you from a new world of opportunities. Once you’ve overcome the things that scare you, you’re now on a new level of your life where you can make bigger and better moves.
5. IT HELPS YOU BECOME FEARLESS
Tied to our first point of this series, accomplishing hard things does increase your confidence but it does wonders for how you perceive future threats to your current comfort levels. You know that you’ve been able to surpass obstacles in the past and this evidence allows you to feel confident in your ability to do it all over again. Over time, you will stop being scared of hard things as you know you can handle them – you will become fearless.
6. IT TEACHES YOU SOMETHING
One thing we guarantee you will always get out of doing something that you are scared of is new lessons. By doing something new, you learn new things about your environment and yourself.
7. IT WON’T KILL YOU
Feeling fear may be an unpleasant experience- but it won’t kill you. Doing things that scare you can only make you stronger, not weaker.
Our best advice for dealing with fear? Take it from Aristotle: “An individual develops courage by doing courageous acts.”
So take on the challenge, feel the fear — and do it anyways.