When people make decisions to pursue what they really desire, fear is almost always there. Fear is often there because people are afraid of the pain that may come if they go for what they want. Fear is the brain's natural response. Evolution has made fear to keep you safe from danger. Fear is natural, but when it paralyzes you from making a decision or taking action it is unuseful.
Robert Cheldini is a persuasion expert. One of factors that he has isolated as a key to successfully persuading people is the element of fear. The media, government, and various organizations are some examples of groups that use fear to get attention and support. Fear is an emotion that can dominate our brains because it sticks out more than most emotions.
Fear is something that has allowed humans to get to where they are today as a species. It has allowed humans to distinguish when to run from predators and how to survive other dangers. Many of us live in an environment where danger from predators is no longer an issue. Fear instead affects us in other areas of life. It is important to realize that, due to evolution, fear is more than what it really is. Your brain is trying to keep you safe.
Your brain associates fear with various stimuli. For instance if you got attacked by a dog, at some point a fear reaction may develop every time you see a dog. Fear can also be brought up in neutral situations, as displayed by the California Science Center, which says:
"A researcher can make a subject respond fearfully to a normally neutral stimulus. For example, people are born with a fear of loud noises. If a researcher plays a loud noise while flashing a light, her subjects will quickly come to pair the flash with the negative experience of the loud noise. Later, the subjects will demonstrate measurable fear of a flash of light, even without the loud noise."
What does this mean for you? Fear may affect situations even when the fear has nothing to do with what you are trying to get done. How can you manage it?
1) Isolate what you are afraid of by asking yourself where the fear is coming from.
2) Ask yourself, "How is this fear false?" and build on examples of how it is false.
3) Take direct action to counteract the fear.
The human brain can be rewired so that fear is not prevalent in certain situations. Here is an example. Let's say that you fell while going down some stairs because your shoes were untied. The next time you are about to go down the stairs you feel fear.
1) Isolate the fear. You figure out you are afraid of falling.
2) Ask yourself, "How is this fear false?" Remember that before falling down the stairs you had done it many times with ease. You also draw on the fact that many people go down the stairs every day with no problems. You also know that if you tie your shoes it will help you make a successful journey down the stairs.
3) You take action, tie your shoes and then go down the stairs.
After going down the stairs, that old fear is lessened. You have found a new way to look at the fear and your brain has begun to disassociate going down the stairs from the stimulus that caused the fear.
Fear will always be there. You will never rid yourself of it, but you can manage it effectively. Once you isolate what the fear is, you can break down the belief by asking yourself how the fear is false. Then you can take action. At this point, you have knocked fear flat on it's back and thus have motivation.
Kerry_Sullivan_I
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