How to Follow Your Heart and Say No to Fear

So, you’ve finally found it. Your passion, your dream, your heart’s desire. Pour yourself a celebration milkshake because that is brilliant news – you’ve taken the first step toward changing and improving your life and becoming the best you!

But what’s that, you’re feeling some fear and some doubts? That’s fine. Because we’re here to help you deal with just that: to make you believe in and trust yourself, to step out of that comfort zone, and get the confidence to follow your heart and have no regrets.

Sounds too good to be true? Well, that’s the problem right there: of course you can’t take a chance when you don’t believe it can work! It can work. Trust us on that.

Pro Tip: As always, there’s no rush. Take your time. Baby steps are much better than one big, discouraging leap. You’ll get there.

1. What Are You Afraid Of?

Identify your fear. Know thy enemy. Once you know what you’re up against, you can equip yourselves with the right tools and weapons to win battles – and eventually the whole war! It can be loneliness, failure, not having enough money, or making a fool of yourself. Do some thinking and feeling. Again, take your time.

2. Express That Fear

Talk about it, write it down, see a professional, join an internet forum: once you’ve put it into words, it loses a bit of its impact over you. Write a journal, talk to your family or your coworkers – or even a stranger. Knowing that someone is objective by default can be very liberating. Who knows; you might get a friendship out of it! And bear in mind that we’re always here for you. We’re good listeners. Promise.

3. Be Scared

Yes, fear is not necessarily a bad thing: it only becomes that when it’s stopping you from doing the things you want. Get to know your fear, how it feels, what you can think and do to improve it – it’s perfectly fine to be afraid! Everyone is. Some people have just learned how to control it, and you can too.

4. Why Are You Scared?

And is it that big of a deal when you think about it? Many fears are quite irrational, and even if they do come true, that doesn’t really matter. If you think about the worst possible scenario, doesn’t it seem like something you can handle or that you or someone you know have handled already, and with flying colors? Fear loves drama and attention. Don’t give in to its tricks.

5. Be in the Moment

Fear isn’t a creature of the present, but a ghost of the future. If you try to put all your focus on what you’re doing right now, there’s not that much space left for any fears or worries to roam around, causing mental and emotional havoc. Forget that you ever knew how to multi-task, read up on mindfulness, and you’re golden!

6. Scare Yourself Straight

Some of those ghosts can be helpful if you use them right. Look at Scrooge from A Christmas Carol: he was more scared of the Ghost of Christmas Future than any of the others, and that gave him the motivation and courage to change his old, grumpy ways. Do that. Let your own ghost of the future show you how it might turn out, and then…

7. Visualize the Good

Enough time spent on those ghastly beings, let’s open the doors for some positivity! Imagine what it would be like to get to the place that your heart desires so, and use that feeling, that excitement and joy, to kick fear’s butt and do it anyway! Do it anyway. Remember those words!

8. Research

If you’re prepared, your brain has fewer reasons to tell you that you can’t do it. Scared of not being able to pay rent, brain? Well, I’ll have you know that you can get financial aid for that. Afraid you’ll be all alone? But why, seeing as there are several interesting groups and clubs to join in that new city. Plan, analyze, and eliminate one after one of your so-called logical reasons not to go for it. Take that, brain.

9. Small Acts

Face your fears, little by little, as often as you can. It can be anything: things that people do every day without even thinking about it but that scares the shit out of you, or something that anyone would be terrified to do. Or something in between. Don’t push yourself too hard, but give yourself a nudge every now and then!

10. Learn From Your Mistakes

Bit of a cliché, but if you stop looking at failure as losing and instead see it as an opportunity to learn something, it won’t seem that bad at all! Knowing why things didn’t turn out as you hoped will also make it easier to change things up and try again. Because you are going to try again – why the hell not? Imagine if it works out this time!

11. Follow Others

There’s no point in trying to invent a new wheel if there are perfectly fine ones around, right? Someone has been where you are and are where you want to be. How did they do it? Where did they start? Use their recipe if you can – you might even be lucky enough to have someone you can speak to directly and get all the tips and tricks you could ever wish for!

And finally, the most important one of all:

12. You Are Good Enough

Read that again. Take it in, believe it. Because it’s true: you’re good enough to succeed in following your heart and realize your dreams. Don’t let anyone – especially yourself! – ever tell you any different. Also, don’t aim for perfection all the time. Good enough will do just fine, and if everything isn’t how you’ve always pictured it, it might be pretty damn fantastic anyway!

Best of Luck to You!

But you don’t need luck now, do you? Not when you might have started, even the tiniest bit, to believe in yourself and trust your abilities. It feels good, right? Well, it’ll feel even better once you’ve really got started! Be kind to yourself, listen to your heart, and don’t forget to let us know all about it!

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