How to Be Fearless: The Science of Conquering Your Fears

Rebecca Lewis September 18, 2013

It is part of our human nature to either fight or flight. It is a physiological response that prepares our body to face or flee away from a situation. This special ability was first described by American physiologist Walter Cannon in the 1920s. According to him, a chain of rapidly occurring reactions inside the body takes place, mobilising the body’s resources needed to deal with life-threatening circumstances.

Fear is part of our ‘fight or flight’ response system. Every time we sense a potential danger – whether real or imaginary – our fear response system is activated. Unless we overcome it, our tendency is to step back. There are times however, that our fear response system becomes overpowering that we tend to step back from even the things or situations that don’t really pose danger to our life. This becomes a problem especially when we become fearful of the things that we needed to experience in order to succeed in life. A very good example is the so called ‘fear of failure’. When we are afraid to fail, we also become afraid to take risks, pursue our goals, and go out of our comfort zone to try and experience new things. In short, we settle for mediocrity. Fear of failure takes a huge toll in our life. It makes us unhappy and less satisfied.

So how can we train our brain to be more courageous? How can we overcome irrational fear? According to studies, we can try the following ways:

Acknowledge your fears.

The first and most important step towards conquering your fears is to recognise them. Research by the Pepperdine University has found that acting courageously requires an understanding of one’s own anxieties and limitations. But of course your journey doesn’t end there. You must choose to work on them.

Face it.

Running away from your fears never works. It’s really hard and terrifying at first but by constantly exposing yourself, at least little by little, to the things you fear the most, you begin to develop resilience. Freud was right when he said that our fears have bizarre sources that need gradual drawing out by a professional. That’s why there’s exposure therapy. According to research, repeated exposure lowers the psychological fear response until it is more manageable or in some cases gone. So the saying “practice makes perfect” is probably true.

See the glass half full.

American psychologist Marc Taylor studied what kind of positivity tactics were employed by athletes. He found that athletes who exercised visualisations and positive self-affirmations were better at coping with the pressures of high-level competitions and were more likely to succeed. If you want to conquer your fears, you should first restructure your way of thinking. See the glass ‘half full’ instead of ‘half empty’. When you are optimistic, it is easier to overcome the thoughts that aggravate your fears.

Be more adventurous.

Have you ever tried bungee jumping? How about backpacking alone? Well, you don’t have to. You can practice being more courageous in some other ways like ordering a food you’ve never tried before, dining at a different restaurant, getting a new hairstyle, cooking something new, volunteering to be a project head, and so on. Taking risks little by little is one great way to overcome your fears. When you constantly take risks, you develop resilience – an important trait needed to survive trials in life and overcome your fears.

De-stress.

Stress and fear are real-life partners. When you are highly stressed, you develop a weaker response to fear. Furthermore, feelings of stress usually arise from fear of a physical or imaginary threat, such as fear of failure or rejection. Incorporating exercise and meditation in your daily life can greatly help you manage stress and protect your mind and body from its effects.

Realise that there’s no such thing as failure, only lessons.

We don’t get everything we want – that’s a fact of life. Even the richest, brightest and most powerful people on earth have failed many times in their life. But failure shouldn’t be perceived in a negative way. Instead, they should be acknowledged as lessons. Failures are lessons that are often learned the hard way, nevertheless, are crucial for growth, success and happiness in life.