Without your mind, there’s no fear.
Does it sound like something you believe?
It may sound a bit out there but stay with me. Fear is an emotion, a reaction to what’s happening around you.
The world isn’t fearful, it’s your mind painting the picture for you. When you experience fear, you’re reacting to what’s happening. And you do that by thinking thoughts that cause fear.
Any external circumstance (e.g. a situation at work, the weather, someone else’s behaviour) make us react in a certain way and we think thoughts about those events. Those thoughts then cause us to feel certain emotions, and our feelings – in turn- make us react the way we do.
THE FEAR OF CHANGE
Change is inevitable. If anything, 2020 has been the best example of it. Change in the way we work, in the way we socialise. Change in the way we spend our holidays, free time and even a change in the view of our health. We do not have control over what happens externally; whether it is an illness, a global pandemic or a rainy day. But what we can do, is to change how we react to what is happening, and we can do it by working on reframing our thoughts.
SO, WHAT CAN YOU DO TO OVERCOME THE FEAR OF CHANGE?
One of the things you can do is to invite more awareness into your life. It might sound difficult or a bit woo-woo, but all you need is a moment of mindfulness.
- Pause, be present. Deep belly breathing will help with calming your nervous system and connecting to your body.
- Recognize the emotion that is appearing and name it.
- See it for what it is and stay curious: what causes the emotion? This process will lead to your thoughts or beliefs; and then you can ask yourself…:
- What are the thoughts that trigger my fear? Are those thoughts and beliefs true? What would happen and what would you feel if you’d you chose different thoughts?
Note the answers you are hearing and noticing.
The more often you follow this process, the easier it will become and recognising the thought-emotion-behaviour pattern will become a second nature. Sometimes all it takes is a pause and a few seconds to realise that you are in fact in control and that your thoughts are the ones causing fear (or other emotion). You’re capable to uncover those answers for yourself and overcome fear of change. You have a choice to choose and think a different thought. You can also choose to create a different and more helpful belief, that could help you to bring on other state and emotions. How powerful is that? Certain coaching frameworks or NLP techniques could support you in that process also.
Get in touch today if you’d like to book a call to explore this in detail.