Fear of something bad happening in the future is one of the things that make us human.

Animals might fear an immediate danger, that is happening right now, but only we fear something that might happen, that isn’t happening now, that isn’t even showing its ugly face at the moment.

This fear, some might say, is necessary … it stops us from doing something stupid. But I’ve found most of these fears to be unnecessary, to be baseless, to be holding us back from achieving something.

I recently asked my Twitter friends: “What fear is holding you back?” Their responses included:

* failure
* abandonment/rejection
* intimacy
* success
* being broke
* not being good enough

I think the last one — not being good enough — is actually at the root of all the others. We fear we’ll fail because we’re not good enough. We fear we’ll lose our relationships, that we’ll be abandoned, that we’ll be rejected … because we’re not good enough. We fear intimacy for the very same reason — we might get rejected because we’re not good enough. Even the fear of success is based on the worry that we’re not good enough.

Do you have this fear? That you’re not good enough? I have, for all my life, and I still have it today.

But here’s the thing: having the fear is natural. Letting it stop you from going after your dreams is a tragedy.

I did this, for well over a decade of my adult life. I let the fear of not being good enough stop me from even trying, from even daring to dream.

It turned out that my fears were baseless. I am good enough. I’m not perfect, but who is?

When I was able to overcome this fear of not being good enough, this fear of failure and rejection, and put myself out there in the world, I succeeded. I found out that I was good enough.

And I still have this same fear — I still worry that I’m not good enough, that I’ll fail and flop on my face in front of 100,000 people … but I wouldn’t be human if I didn’t. Even the most successful people — Barack Obama, Steve Jobs, Paul McCartney, J.K. Rowling, et al — they have this fear, even if they don’t show it. But they don’t let it hold them back.

How can you do this? Let’s look into it.

“The greatest barrier to success is the fear of failure.” - Sven Goran Eriksson

How to Beat Your Fears
There is no step-by-step program to beating your fears, but here’s what I’ve learned, first-hand and from others.

1. First, acknowledge your fear.This is a huge first step. If you do just this today, you’ve done something great. Many of us have these fears, but they are at the back of our mind, unnoticed, unacknowledged, as we try to ignore them and pretend they’re not there. But they are there. And they affect us, every day, all our lives. So acknowledge the fear.

2. Write it down.What’s your fear? Write it on a piece of paper. Writing it down not only acknowledges that you have it — bringing it out into the light — but it externalizes the fear. It takes the fear from the dark lurking places in the back of your mind, where it has power over you, out into the light of day, outside of you, where you have power over the fear. Take control over it by writing it down. It is now outside you. You can do something about it. I personally like to crumple it up and stomp on it, but you can do whatever you like. Post it on your fridge as a reminder of your enemy.

3. Feel the fear.You’ve acknowledged it, but you’re still afraid of it. You’re reluctant to even have this fear, perhaps even embarrassed about it. Well, no more. Recognize that you’re not alone, that we ALL have these fears, that we all think we might not be good enough. Yes, even the amazing Barack, the amazing Jessica Alba, the amazing Al Pacino. They have the same fears as you do. I sure do. Repeat after me: there’s nothing wrong with having this fear. Now allow yourself to feel it. Experience it fully. Bask in this fear. It isn’t as bad as you think. It’s a part of you, but it doesn’t control you. From djbarker on Twitter: “Feel the fear & do it anyway.”

4. Ask yourself:what’s the worst thing that can happen? Often it’s not as bad as we think. Do you fear failing in a new career? What would happen if you did? You’d get another job. You’d move on. You’d live. Do you fear being rejected by someone of the opposite sex? What would happen if you were? You’d lick your wounds, you’d find someone else who is more suited for you, you’d live. Do you fear being broke? What would happen if you were? You’d cut back on your expenses, perhaps ask family or friends to help you out for a little bit. You’d find a way to make money. You’d live.

5. Just do it.To repeat: feel the fear and do it anyway. To beat the fear, you have to just do it. See below for some tips on doing this, but what works for me is not thinking, just acting. Like when you want to jump off a waterfalls into the pool below: don’t think about it. Just jump! It’s an exhilarating feeling. I fear public speaking, but when I get up and just do it, I feel great. From Jade Craven on Twitter: “I fear everything. I’ve recently decided to ignore my fears and just go for it! So many opportunities have come as a result.”

6. Prepare yourself for battle.When you’re going to take on an adversary, you prepare yourself. You arm yourself, and have a battle plan, and train yourself. Do this in your battle against your fear: arm yourself, have a battle plan, train yourself. If you want to be a musician but you fear failure … practice, practice, practice, then come up with a plan to succeed, then get all the skills and info you need to implement the plan, then practice some more. Then go out and implement the plan!

7. Be in the moment.Fear of failure (and other similar fears) are fears of the future. We get caught up in worrying about what might happen. Instead, banish all thoughts of the future. Banish even thoughts of past mistakes and failures. Now focus on right now. Do something right now to beat your fears, to pursue your dreams, and forget about what might happen. Just do it, now, in the moment. When you find yourself thinking about the past or future, bring yourself back in the moment and focus on what you’re doing right at this moment.

8. Small steps.Conquering fear and pursuing a life goal can be overwhelming, intimidating. So start small. Just take one little baby step. Something you know you can do. Something you’re sure to succeed at. Then feel good about that (see below) and take another small baby step. Keep doing this, and soon you’ll have conquered a mountain.

9. Celebrate every success!Every single thing you do right, celebrate! Even the smallest little thing. And use this feeling of success, of victory, to propel yourself forward and take the next step. Bill Gates describes a “spiral of success” that he used to build Microsoft up from its early success of MS-DOS, to its success with Windows and Word and Excel and Internet Explorer and all that (I know, blech, but still). Use this idea of a spiral of success in your life — build upon each success, use it as a stepping stone to the next victory.

“To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom.” - Bertrand Russell

 "每當我們逃避困難,就會增加對困難本身的恐懼"- Cheri Huber

對未來可能會發生的壞事產生恐懼是人性的一部分.

動物也許會害怕眼前發生的危險,但只有人才會恐懼那些也許將來會發生的事情,那些現在并沒有發生,甚至還沒有露出可怕面貌的事情.

這種恐懼,有人也許會說是必要的...因為它能阻止我們做傻事.但我發覺大部分這些對未知的恐懼是不必要而且沒有基礎的,是會阻礙我們實現目標的.

我最近在Twitter上問我的朋友們:"對什么恐懼正讓你止步不前?"他們的回復包括:

* 失敗
* 被遺棄或被拒絕
* 親昵感
* 成功
* 破產
* 自己可能不夠好

我想最后一條 - 自己可能不夠好 - 應該是其他所有恐懼的根源.我們害怕因為自己不夠好而失敗.害怕因為我們自己不夠好而失去與某人的感情,那樣就會被拋棄,被拒絕.因為同樣的原因而害怕與人親近 - 也許因為自己不夠好而被別人拒絕. 甚至因為擔心自己可能不夠好而對成功也產生恐懼.

你有過這樣的恐懼么?有過對自己的懷疑么? 我有,我的生活中一直都有這樣的感覺,直到今天我還有這樣的恐懼.

但事實上:恐懼感是與生俱來的.不幸的是恐懼感正是阻止你追求自己的夢想的最大障礙.

在過去10年里作為成年人的生活我一直是這樣的.對"自己可能不夠好"的恐懼感讓我對追求夢想的嘗試,甚至讓我不敢奢望的去想起夢想.

但結果是我的恐懼是完全沒有理由的.事實上我夠好.我不是完美的人,但是誰又是完美的呢?

當我能戰勝對"自己不夠好"的恐懼,戰勝對失敗和被拒絕的恐懼之后,在自己的生活中,我成功了.我認識到我其實是足夠好的.

雖然我還是懷有同樣的恐懼的 - 我依舊會擔心我是不是不夠好,還會擔心我會在千萬人的面前丟盡面子...但如果沒有這些就不能算是完整的人生了.就算是最成功的人們 - 奧巴馬總統,史蒂夫.喬布斯,保羅.麥卡尼,J.K.羅琳,等等這樣的人也會擁有同樣的恐懼.但他們不會讓恐懼成為阻礙.

你需要怎樣做?讓我們來深入研究一下.

"通向成功最大的阻礙就是對失敗的恐懼" - Sven Goran Eriksson

怎樣戰勝你的恐懼

其實沒有那種按部就班的方法去對付恐懼,但這里有一些我從自己或者他人身上學到的經驗:

1. 首先,承認你的恐懼.這是最大的一步跨越.如果今天你能實現這一步,這就是卓越的進步.大多數人都擁有恐懼,只不過我們把它們置之腦后,讓它們不被察覺,不被承認, 被我們忽略而假裝這些恐懼并不存在.但他們確實在那兒.而且會在生命中的每一天影響我們.所以,你需要承認這些恐懼的存在.

2. 把你的恐懼寫下來.什么使你恐懼?把它寫在一張紙上.這樣做能使你承認這些恐懼的存在 - 把它們擺在陽光之下 - 還能將恐懼趕出頭腦之外.將頭腦中陰暗角落里那些控制你的恐懼置于陽光之下,就能反過來讓你有力量反過來控制恐懼.寫下并主宰你的恐懼.現在就在面對它. 你可以對這些寫在紙上的恐懼做出行動.我會將它們在手中蹂躪甚至踩在腳下,你也可以用其他的辦法. 你甚至可以把它們貼在冰箱上時刻提醒你這些生活中的敵人.

3. 感受恐懼.你已經承認你對這些事物的恐懼,但你還是會懼怕他們. 你不想擁有這些恐懼,也許甚至不想把他們復雜化. 你并不用害怕.只要理解并不只有你才有這樣的恐懼,我們每個人都有,我們每個人都會懷疑自己做的不夠好.這可以肯定,甚至是令人尊敬的奧巴馬總統,完美的杰西卡. 奧爾芭,令人敬畏的阿爾.帕西諾. 他們都擁有和你一樣的恐懼. 我也毫不列外. 請跟我重復這句話:恐懼并不是錯誤. 現在讓自己去感受它.深入的體驗它.將自己暴露在恐懼之中.它并不像你想像的那樣糟糕.它是你生活的一部分,但他不能控制你.在Twitter 上的朋友DJBARKER說:"感受恐懼并義無反顧的行動."

4. 問你自己:最壞的結果會是怎樣?對事物的恐懼并沒有我們想象的那樣糟糕. 你會不會害怕在新工作中失敗?如果你失敗了將會怎樣?你會換一個工作,會繼續前行.你會活下去.你會不會害怕被某個異性拒絕?如果被拒絕了又會怎樣?你會舔舐內心的傷口,會繼續尋找更適合你的人,你也會活下去.你會不會害怕破產?如果破產了又會怎樣?你會節衣縮食,也許會向你的家人朋友尋求一點幫助.你會找到掙錢的辦法.但你依然會繼續活下去.

5. 只管去做.跟我一起重復這句話:感受恐懼并義無反顧的行動.要想打敗恐懼,你必須要放手去做.對我來說最管用的方法不是思考,而是直接行動.就像站在瀑布上想要跳入下面的池水的時候:不要再猶豫了.直管放膽一躍!那是令人激動的感覺.我害怕在公開場合演講,但當我站起身來直接上臺后,我感覺好極了.Twitter上的Jade Craven 說:"以前我懼怕所有事.但我決定現在不管他們直接行動.結果反而是無數機會出現我面前."

6. 為挑戰做好準備.如果要挑戰敵人,你會讓自己做好準備.你會武裝自己,制定計劃,然后不斷訓練自己.同樣為挑戰恐懼做好準備:武裝自己,制定計劃,訓練自己. 如果你想做一名音樂家但又害怕失敗...練習,練習,在練習,然后為你的成功制定計劃,努力獲取一切實踐計劃所需的技能和信息,然后再做更多的練習.最后邁出步伐去實現你的計劃吧!

7. 活在現在.對失敗的恐懼(和其他相似的擔憂)其實是對未來的恐懼.我們沉溺于擔心那些將來也許根本就不會發生的事情.但其實應該做的,是排除對未來的擔心.甚至排除對過去的錯誤和失敗的思考.僅僅專注于現在.立刻為戰勝你的恐懼而行動,為實現你的夢想而行動,忘記那些可能根本就不會發生的事情.只管去做,現在,就在此刻.當你擔心將來的失敗或者回憶起過去的失敗經驗的時候,把自己帶回現在,專注于現在你正在實踐的行動.

8. 小步前進.征服自己的恐懼感和實現人生的目標可能是極其龐大的任務和巨大的壓力.所以請從小事開始.只要邁出小小的一步.一件你知道自己可以完成的事.一件你肯定可以成功做到的事.為自己的成功而高興然后再邁出一小步,也許很快你就會發現自己征服了一座人生的高山...

9. 慶祝每一個成就!哪怕是在小的成功.慶祝每一件你作對的事情! 運用這種成功和勝利的感覺,推動自己去實現下一個目標.比爾蓋茨曾經描述過"成功的循環"就是關于他如何利用MS-DOS的成功繼而一步步實現了 Windows,Word,Excel,和IE瀏覽器在市場上的巨大成功.在你的生活中借鑒這種成功的循環 - 讓每次成功相互促進,成為你奠定勝利的基石.

"征服恐懼就是智慧的開始" - Bertrand Russell