Want Courage? Follow This 2-Step Process to Beat Fear & Anxiety Every Time

So, you are anxious or afraid about a circumstance or a tough decision, yet you know that your feelings might lie to you. What do you do next? How do you know if your fear is a reasonable one or if possibly your mind and emotions are playing tricks on you? Here are two important steps that will help you gauge the risk vs. reward involved in your decision, helping you to turn that fear and anxiety into courage and confidence.

When you think a situation through, you can often understand the end result of your action or inaction. Knowing the possible end result of a situation before it plays out, gives us a sense of confidence or courage before we take that nervous step forward.

Thinking a situation through means considering how your steps and choices may play out in the end. This process is most effective if two steps are followed. 

The first step to think through the situation is to: question to ask is: Ask yourself “Will inaction create a worse result than taking action?”

There are times when, after careful consideration, inaction on a situation is the right choice. Sometimes inaction can take immense courage, such as Churchill’s decision in World War II to allow the bombing of Coventry to protect the fact the British had broken German codes. 

Sometimes however, not taking action is the worst choice we can make. In numerous cases, inaction can lead to a worse outcome than if we had taken action and failed. 

For example, a person who desires to build friendships with others but allows their fears to hold them back from meeting new people, achieves less than the person who works through their fears, making an effort to meet new people, but fails. 

This is because the fearful person who decides to act despite fear, even if he fails, will learn something from his failure. He can look back at the situation, think through the failure, and consider what he can change the next time to be successful.

The person who never makes the effort to build friendships with others because he is afraid to act brings upon himself the very loneliness that he had feared. Knowing that remaining paralyzed by fear will often bring a worse outcome than if we take action should be a strong motivator. 

So, think the situation through. Will the result of inaction be better than taking action and failing? Very often, the answer is no.

If you have an example of a time where the results of failing to act were worse than taking action and failing, please leave a comment and share that experience with us and the rest of our Viewers. As always, if you find this helpful, give us a like, subscribe to the channel and click the notification bell to ensure that you don’t miss any of our videos.

So, if we’ve determined that taking action will lead to a better result. What’s next? The next important step in thinking through a situation is to learn more about the matter at hand. Lack of knowledge of a matter creates uncertainty, and uncertainty can paralyze action. Human beings tend to be afraid of the unknown. So what do you do?

Our second step to think through the situation is to: Gather information and expert advice. 

Gathering information is powerful, as knowledge enhances confidence, and helps us accomplish what we set our minds to do. A perfect example is what you are doing right now. By watching this video, you are gathering knowledge about a subject and hearing about the ways to build courage. This same technique can be applied to any challenging situations you may face. 

For example, if you have a job interview coming up and are very nervous about it because you are not good at speaking on your feet and have not had many job interviews in the past. 

Where do you begin? First, you think through the entire interview process. 

Take time to research the company, its goals, and the names and backgrounds of the people in the company and maybe even the person or persons that may interview you. Study how to write formal emails and how to dress for an interview. Then, do some research on the types of questions commonly asked in job interviews. It may take time but in the end, you will find that being prepared for situations and knowing how to handle unfamiliar conditions is a great stress reducer and lowers anxiety levels. 

I used the example of a job interview because I can remember one particular job I was seeking. I was going to be interviewed by very successful individuals, and I knew that I did not have as much experience as other applicants. I had to leave a good impression. I studied for the interview for two weekends in a row, for 8 hours each Sunday. I became familiar with the company's technology and market. I researched the backgrounds of the people I would meet and studied the types of questions typically asked in these interviews. The interview was a success, and not only did I get the job, but the men across the table were surprised at the speed at which I could answer some of their challenging questions. After being offered the job, I also received a counteroffer from my current employer, for more than the new job offered. Now, I had another decision to make, which caused considerable anxiety. What was I going to do? 

Now we come to the second part of this point: When facing hard decisions like this, get advice from people who have already been successful in what you are trying to achieve. 

Very often, people make the mistake of getting advice from people who have not been overly successful. Such is not a good source of advice. You want guidance from someone who has already been in a situation similar to yours and has proved successful. 

So I called my Uncle Steve. He is a VP for an engineering firm and is familiar with the business world. He, without hesitation, told me I should not accept the counteroffer from my present employer explaining that, ultimately, it was a trap, even though it paid more.  Thankfully, his advice was correct, and I ended up doing far better than I would have had I accepted the counteroffer. 

The lesson is: to think situations through. Will inaction bring a worse outcome than acting and failing? Think about not just the next step you have to take but the various outcomes of each potential step along the way so that you can prepare yourself in advance for those circumstances as well. 

Do a bit of homework. What more can you learn about the situation you’re facing to give you a better understanding of how to act? Finally, find people who have already faced the situation you are facing and have been successful in that situation, and then take their advice.

These steps are effective for one reason: We often fear the unknown. Acquire as much knowledge as possible about the different outcomes of a situation beforehand. Each piece of acquired knowledge makes the situation a little less daunting. It gives us confidence because we aren't stepping into a situation blindfolded, and there will be fewer surprises.