Fears hold us back and prevent us from enjoying life to the fullest. They can stop us from participating in activities that others join in without hesitation. They can limit our range of experiences and even keep us from making new friends.

But all fears aren’t bad. They can keep us from doing things that are dangerous, or help us to react to a threat instinctively. Fears are part of our human makeup and even if our fears are irrational they’re still very real to us.

Fears are essentially negative, and because they become entangled in our emotions they’re hard to shift. We allow our fears to become part of our thinking, making us worry too often about the possibilities of failure rather than focusing on the positive results of success.

Facing your fears requires courage. Instead of running from what you fear or always trying to avoid a confrontation, in five steps you can develop the courage to stand up to what you fear and prove that you are bigger than your problems: 

Admit the fear. Think about what makes you feel afraid, unsure or self-conscious. You might believe that a particular activity is dangerous, but why do you think this? If others can do something, why can’t you?

Identify the fear. Until now it’s been mostly unknown. Write about it. Describe it. What is it that’s holding you back? Go into as much detail as you can, and see if you can tell how it became part of your beliefs.

Connect with the fear. Analyse it. See how it’s not based on truth but is really just an error. Build up a resentment of it. Don’t tolerate something that’s keeping you from things in life you could enjoy; feel anger and direct it at your fear.

Overcome the fear. Fears are irrational and you’re a rational being. You’ve identified your enemy and now you know it well. Discover the strength within yourself that’s been there all along and overcome the fear with your courage.

Prove that you’ve defeated fear. This is important! Do what you’ve been afraid of doing. Now that you know how meaningless that fear really was, put it behind you by demonstrating that it’s gone.

Because we own our fears, we’re the ones that can defeat them! It’s not easy but just imagine the sense of accomplishment you’ll feel once you’ve overcome the fears that are holding you back.