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Overcoming fear

One of the main insights I gained during the past year, and especially during the PhD course which I am taking, is that many of us are held back by fear.
Fear can be the reason why you developed a certain coping mechanism, fear blocks your clear communication abilities and fear makes sure you stay in your comfort zone.

Today, I read this post, from which I am quoting the following:

There was a part of me that assumed life would be easier once i survived the grief – that i’d embrace a new life-is-short credo and let go of all my fears, gliding through life feeling the power of survival under my wings. But that didn’t happen. Life still felt as difficult as ever, if not more so.

These words inspire me to actually put some energy into fighting my fear. Whenever fear peeks over my shoulder and whispers in my ear to just stay where I am and not undertake action, I should actually put a double amount of energy to fight the fear. I mention double amount, referring to the energy needed to ignore the fear on one hand and to get into action on the other hand.

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This Post Has 4 Comments
  1. Doing a PhD is supposed to be challenging and challenges can be scary. Great post. I you just have to take a big breath and go for it! The way to get over fears is to tackle them head on

  2. Two really great books that address overcoming our fear of doing work that matters are The War of Art by Steven Pressfield and Linchpin by Seth Godin. I've read both and they do a great job exploring what is happening behind the scenes whenever we get into \”fight or flight\” type thinking about our work.

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