With the many variations of “good vibes only” slogans surrounding us, it can become easy to ignore our fears in the name of positivity. I know I for one am guilty of this. It can feel like the best plan of action to address our fears is to act only when it feels right, but – sometimes we confuse what feels right with the illusion of safety. Playing it safe has a time and a place in our life but it can become a metaphorical cage preventing us from our dream life if we aren’t careful.
That being said, I have been practicing a little life hack for a couple of years now and I wanted to share it with you guys in my Boss Lady Tips series.
Acknowledge your fears and write them down.
Sounds like a deceivingly simple exercise…. How can it add any value into your life?
I asked the same question when I first stumbled across this writing hack, because, aren’t we supposed to be writing down what we are grateful for? I feared that writing down my fears would just enforce them – like the effect I wanted with my daily gratitude list.
In my experience, writing down my fears does not enforce them. In fact, it does the complete opposite. Writing down my fears dissolves their power over me and gives me power of said fears. It not only brings them from the dark shadows of my mind to the bright light of day but it also puts them into perspective. We often go to the worst case scenario in our minds without even realizing it and act mindlessly in mere survival. It is hard to live your dream life when you are just trying to survive the monsters in the closet of your mind. Knowledge is power and knowledge about your fear is no different.
The biggest thing that this life hack has contributed to my life is the reminder that it is okay to be fearful. Life isn’t about acting when you feel no fear but feeling the fear and acting anyway. Write down your fears, keep them in perspective, and remember that everyone has them. Even Justin Bieber.
PS is Justin Bieber really engaged to Hayley Baldwin? I saw the Instagram post but wut….
This is such great advice! I just started journaling for this exact reason! I mean how can you dig deeper into what’s holding you back without putting it all out there first?? 😉