Knowing how to build your confidence and taking the actions to build your confidence are two totally different things. When it comes to taking action there can be roadblocks and setbacks. The biggest roadblock of them all is fear.
Fear is an emotion that can consume us fully. It keeps us “safely” in our comfort zone, and playing small. I always loved the definition of fear that says fear is false evidence appearing real. Fear has a great way of making us believe lies about ourselves.
When you start to build your confidence it is important to know where fear shows up. Often fear is very uncomfortable so we want to push it away or hide from it. However, when we do this we won’t be able to grow past that fear. Instead, you can use your fear as a tool to know where you need to grow.
When fear shows up learn to use it as a growth opportunity. Pause and take a moment to understand where the fear is coming from. Ask yourself how afraid of this fear are you? You can literally ask yourself on a scale from 1-10 how afraid am I? Ask yourself what steps can I take to eliminate or move through my fear?
So often we see messages of being fearless, but what if you didn’t strive for fearless but instead partner with your fear. It takes a lot of energy to try to be fearless. However fear will always exist. It is an emotion that we have to keep us safe. So instead of putting your energy into being fearless use your energy to get curious about your fears.
One of the best remedies for fear is courage. Confidence is not about doing things perfectly. It is about believing in yourself even when things aren’t going the way you expected. So when fear comes up while you are building your confidence it is okay, it means you are on the right path.
