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The Flip Side of Fear: What Your Fear Says About You

fear - GeneralLeadership.com“Fear can be seen as happening for us, not just to us. Leverage it!”
Jay Steven Levin

Fear is increasing. Worldwide. It knows no psychographic, demographic or geographic limitation.

Let’s look fear in the eye. See it for what it is, what it can tell you about you and how you can relate to it better to improve your quality of life.

Fear is an emotional response. A sensual reaction to what and how we perceive the world around us and our internal world inside us.

The more we live in and through our senses, the greater our emotional reactions become. The more neutral we are, the less emotional we become.

The more we identify with our emotions, the more we give them voice. The more voice we give our emotions, the more we empower them to authenticate their reality as our reality. The more our emotional reality becomes our only reality, the more that reality becomes the only reality. After a while, little else makes sense. We grow less tolerant, and we shrink as a result .

Fear shrinks. Courage expands.

Fear is a bully: It acts out; Intimidates; Takes advantage; Craves control; Feeds on weakness; Grows like a parasite; Becomes stronger; Lives off us. When we elect it “Master,” it enslaves. It speaks. …and we obey.

The Flip Side Of Fear

When we step aside from our emotions, we see fear for what it is: A signal.

How we interpreted the signal and what we do about it – depends on us.

Here’s are 18 ways to flip fear and respond to it differently;

  1. Live more neutrally. Less emotionally.
  2. Don’t be afraid of fear. That’s what it wants. It gets its power that way.
  3. Be still. Listen. Uncover what fear can tell you about you.
  4. See fear as a condition. One you choose to accept or not.
  5. Train yourself to see fear as an info signal, not as your emotion.
  6. Practice detachment. Fear is not “your fear” unless you claim it.
  7. When fear comes, say to yourself, this is fear.  Don’t say this is “my” fear.”
  8. Objectify fear.  Don’t personalize it.
  9. Practice affirming, “What comes let come,” then allow it to pass.
  10. Practice alertness. See fear as a signal to change your state of mind.
  11. See fear as a prompt to shift your consciousness.
  12. Train yourselves to become really good, and act upon the signal.
  13. The better you get at redirecting the signal, the more power you’ll have.
  14. Exhale slowly and deeply when the signal comes – it brings focus.
  15. It’s okay to question everything.
  16. Fear starts in childhood. Live in the now.
  17. It’s too late for a better first childhood. But, not for a second one.
  18. Situations are neutral.  We color them through our emotional reactions.

We see the flip side of fear when we get out of the way and flip our seeing to  what is – not what we bring to it.

See opportunity. Understand possibility. Practice courage.

Decide the relationship you want to have with fear and act accordingly.

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Jay Steven Levin
Jay Steven Levin
Associate Curator at General Leadership
Executive Coach | Vistage Chair
Former CEO, COO, CMO, President, Monk,
Certified Behavioral, Values & EQ Analyst, Mediator
Certified Growth Curve Strategist | ASTD Cert Proj. Mgmt.
Former Worldwide Retreat Master | Meditation, EQ Trainer
Limoncello Producer
Seen Beatles, know Walrus was John
Tags: action, courage, fear, Jay, jslevin, levin, opportunity, overcoming, rationalizing
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