Overcome Fears in a Personal Development Program
Stress and Anxiety Relief, Fear of Failure, Fear of Public Speaking
Aug 16, 2009
An effective personal development program will help to identify and overcome fears that are limiting personal growth. The personal growth planner should expect to experience some discomfort when addressing fears, many of which have been deeply embedded in the subconscious since childhood.
Fear is an emotional response to the idea that something very bad is going to happen. Most fears, though, are unfounded, based not on survival or avoidance of physical injury, but on avoiding emotional injury such as rejection or humiliation.
Fear is a powerful motivator and is one of the primary drivers behind human behavior. This is obvious once one carefully examines the messages of politics, government, religion, and business as they attempt to influence people's actions. Notice the large percentage of messages designed to sell something or influence some action in response to the fear-content of the message.
The fundamental self-protection and survival factor of fear helps a species survive, thrive, and evolve. Fear is also a powerful self-limiting factor which prevents people from following their dreams, limiting personal growth and development to what is comfortable and free of risk.
Personal Development Program and Fear of Failure
For readers following the nineteen-week sample Personal Development Program this article expands on week eight, addressing the fears that limit self improvement.
Fear is such a strong motivator that it often leads to the personal characteristic of perfectionism – a trait that is often valued as a positive behavior, but which can be problematic for the perfectionist. In The Pursuit of Perfect, Tal Ben-Shahar notes that perfectionists not only fear failure, but reject the possibility of failing at anything attempted. Though perfectionists are often valued for their contributions, perfectionism is often associated with depression.
Timothy A. Pchyl, Ph.D, reporting on recent research on procrastination (Psychology Today online, "Don't Delay," February 13, 2009), notes that fear of failure is a significant contributor to the characteristic of procrastination.
Stress and Anxiety Relief
Robert L. Leahy (Psychology Today online, January 16, 2009) provides twenty techniques for reducing stress and anxiety by learning to cope with the fear of failure. Suggestions include:
- Learning from failure;
- Recognizing that failure isn't fatal;
- Relating failure to a behavior rather than the person, and;
- Noting that "nothing ventured, nothing gained."
How to Overcome Fear of Public Speaking and Other Fears
Internet self-help guru Steve Pavlina favors overcoming fear by developing courage through conscious and repeated actions facing small versions of one's fears.
In related research in "Unlearning our Fears," Colin Allen (Psychology Today, October 1, 2003) reports on research with mice which implies that exposure to fear-producing stimuli can condition beings to overcome the fear of that stimuli. Allen noted the mice "...are learning to suppress their fear."
In the article "Are You Addicted to Fear?" (Psychology Today online, December 11, 2008), Judith Orloff, M.D. suggests several fear reducing steps, including avoiding stimulants such as caffeine and sugar, refraining from watching violent TV material, and utilizing the relaxation technique of deep, slow breathing.
Overcome Fears with a Personal Development Program
Self-limiting fears may be preventing you from moving forward with personal growth and development activities that will move you toward the vision of who you wish to be.
This writer's experience is that facing and overcoming fears often leads to surges of personal growth. Though initially uncomfortable, facing and overcoming one's fear is energizing and satisfying.
Courage is often defined as the ability to move forward in spite of fear. By having the courage to undertake some aspect of personal growth despite the cold chill of fear gripping your mid-section, you will increase the odds for achieving your personal dreams.
Readers enjoying this article may enjoy Overcoming Perfectionism and Goal Setting for the Perfectionist.
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