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Conquering Your Fear

by Daniel N Brown

If you conquer your fears and doubts, you will conquer failure.

Your belief system is the driving force behind your behaviors and
your results. If you can change your beliefs, you will change
your behaviors. When you change your behaviors, you will change
your results. Then, when you change your results, you will change
your life.

It all starts with your belief system. Jesus said, "If you can
believe, all things are possible to him who believes" (Mark
9:23).

Many things can keep one from believing. But, I think the biggest
factor that keeps one from believing is fear and doubt.

Fear and doubt is a common problem from which none of us is
immune. They are acquired diseases because we weren't born with
them. They are very contagious and are passed around from one
person to another. They impair your normal functioning and keep
you from making positive and long lasting changes in your life.
If you're not careful, fear and doubt will cause you to make weak
and irrational decisions that sell out your future for the sake
of today. They will steal your peace, your joy, and your very
life.

Fear is probably the dominant problem in one's life. 90 percent
of the chronic patients who see today's physicians have one
common symptom - fear.

Many different fears are common to us all to some degree, such as
a fear of failure, fear of success, fear of losing one's job,
fear of poverty, fear of criticism, fear of illness, fear of
rejection, fear of growing old, fear of being separated from
loved ones, fear of death, and probably one of the most common
fears of all - fear of inadequacy.

Then there are innumerable phobias such as a fear of the dark,
fear of high places, fear of closed-in places, fear of insects,
and so on.

But, fear is a part of life and a God-given emotion. We rightly
fear many things that we should fear. In it's right place, fear
is a strong motivator and protecter.

Fear becomes a problem when it is irrational, such as fears that
are imagined. 90 percent of the things we imagine through fear
never happen. Much of the remaining 10 percent we often make
happen ourselves. Like the person who has a fear of failure; he
may get himself so anxious about failing, he will actually,
somehow, make himself fail.

So, how do we overcome our fears?

~ The first step for resolving any problem is to admit you have
the problem. Whatever fear you're experiencing, admit it. It's ok
to feel fear but it's not ok to let your fear control you. For
those who will admit they have a disease called fear, they are
more likely to break through it's control over them.

~ Determine if your fears are imaginary. If so, acknowledge it
and refuse to continue to dwell on those fearful thoughts. What
the mind dwells on, it magnifies and attracts. It will eventually
begin to actually believe that your fearful imaginations are real
and act upon them.

~ If your fear is real, accept it and take whatever steps you can
to change the circumstances that cause your fear. Keep in mind
that courage isn't the absence of fear, it's the ability to press
on dispite the presence of fear. Many times, the solution to any
fear is simply - do the thing you fear. It's amazing how action
conquers fear! Try it.

~ If you are fearing a person, or the 'unknown,' the best thing
to do is simply trust God. There is no greater way to overcome
these kinds of fears. The Bible says, "Fear of man will prove to
be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe"
(Proverbs 29:25). Trust your circumstances to God every day. 1
Peter 5:7 says, "Cast your care on Him for He cares for you."

Remember, your belief system is the driving force behind your
behaviors and your results. If your beliefs are fear driven, they
will impair your normal functioning and keep you from making
positive and long lasting changes in your life.

If you conquer your fears and doubts, you will conquer failure.

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