How To Escape Fear and Experience Breakthrough in Life
Fear might be keeping you from seeing your dreams come true.
I was six years old. Standing at the edge of the diving board. My knees were shaking and my heart was pounding. Fear was sweeping over me, wave after wave.
People were cheering me on from the sides of the pool. The swim instructor was giving me encouraging prompts for me to jump off into the water. Another instructor was in the water nearby calling for me to jump too.
But I was paralyzed with fear.
I couldn’t do it. I turned around and tried to act as if I wasn’t interested in jumping in the water. But the truth is, I was so afraid, I couldn’t do it.
Fear kept me from doing something so small at the moment. But it created a deeper sense of fear that stuck with me well into my 20s. In fact, I didn’t learn how to swim well enough to be comfortable in the water until I was almost 30.
Fear does this to us. It turns us back from the small things and keeps us from the big things.
It Takes Time to Breakthrough Fear
More than 20 years later I finally faced my fear all the way. Standing at the base of a “ropes course” a mentor came over and asked me what I was afraid of. I thought he was asking about the course so I told him that I was afraid of falling and breaking my neck.
Then he said:
“No, what are you REALLY afraid of?”
I said that I was afraid of falling. Or drowning. After all, my two greatest fears were and to this day are heights and deep water. Something about both scares me every time I encounter them.
That mentor helped me take steps that summer to conquering fear at the moment. He got me on that ropes course. And he helped me learn how to swim well enough I could survive if needed.
But, it wasn’t until the last few years I really found a breakthrough with fear.
Fear is Deeper than You Think
While I can climb tall structures without losing it, go on rollercoasters, and swim in deep water now, there was still a deeper sense of fear that had climbed on my back for a long time. In fact, it manifested itself in two ways:
- Fear of Failure
- Fear of Death
Three years ago, I realized my deep-rooted fear of failure was ruining my life. You see, I assumed that I was always going to fail at everything I did. This, of course, kept me from seeing many dreams come true.
Within the last year, I discovered that my fear of death was keeping me in a mindset of playing it safe and focusing on self-gratification. This kept me from taking the risks I needed to take and from sacrificing in order to do what needs to be done for my dreams.
Finding a breakthrough from these deep-rooted fears changed my life.
When I started truly living after finding breakthroughs from fear I realized there were some important lessons that everyone could benefit from in order to find personal breakthroughs too.
5 Lessons to Help You Breakthrough Fear
What I have found in the last five years could have helped me many years before. My hope is to share these lessons with you to help you find a breakthrough much sooner than I did. And to help you realize your dreams faster than ever before.
Lesson One: Your Fears are Deeper than You Think
I shared a little about this before, but I have come to the conclusion that there is always something deeper than what we fear at the moment. Sometimes it is something completely different.
And other times it is based out of an experience long forgotten to your conscious mind. When we come across fear, we need to dig deep to understand it. No matter how uncomfortable or scary it is.
When you fear, ask yourself:
What am I REALLY afraid of? Where does this start?
Then you can identify what the deep fear is and start working through it. Once you do that, you can start to break through fear to chase your dreams and live a life of freedom.
Lesson Two: Fear Isn’t Your Identity
I used to think that I was just not someone who would climb things or go swimming in lakes or rivers. My fear had taken hold at such a deep level that I made it part of who I was.
But the truth is, my fears do not make me. They are not my identity. In fact, fear works against our true selves and keeps us from living the life we were created to live.
If there is anything you take away from this lesson, it is to question your identity when it comes to avoiding things in life. I am certain that these parts of your life are actually places where fear has taken a deep hold on your life.
Lesson Three: Your Fears Do Not Decide Your Future
Similarly to how fear doesn’t ascribe your identity, it also does not create your future for you. Well, it can. But you don’t need to let it happen. When we decide not to do something because of fear, that is when we let fear decide our future.
However, when we decide to do something in spite of our fear, we begin the process of a breakthrough. We begin to cast fear aside and move forward. But we need to first understand that fear does not decide our future.
If there is something that has been holding you back, decide today to move forward even if you fear what might happen. Once you do this, you can truly begin the process of a breakthrough.
Lesson Four: Breakthrough is Possible
Alright, so we know fear is deeper than we think. We also know that it does not create our identity or decide our future. Now, we need to know that breakthrough is possible. You can overcome your fears.
When we start believing that we can overcome our fears it breaks the chains of fear in our life. The other steps set the tone and prepare us for what we need to do, but our mindset in believing we can break free of fear is important.
Commit to yourself, say it out loud if you need to, that you can break free of fear in your life.
Lesson Five: You Will Need Help with Your Breakthrough
You might have thought that I was going to tell you to start taking action toward beating your fears. But the truth is that is really easy. We can always start our breakthrough journey with action.
However, in order to move forward when you start meeting resistance, you will need help.
When you are working to breakthrough your fears, you will need to have people to help you when things get hard. When you don’t want to keep trying. Or when you get exhausted from constantly working against the emotions your fears invoke.
Decide on two or three safe people who you can share your fears with and ask them to help you as you start your journey to break free of fear in your life.
Final Thoughts
Fear is hard. It is difficult to overcome and it keeps us from so much in life. However, when we can break free of our fears it unlocks a world of excitement and abundance. Most of all, it will help you to help others as they work through fear in their lives.
These five lessons I shared today will help you find breakthroughs in your fears and they will help others. When you face a fear or one comes up in your life, remember:
- Your fears are deeper than you think.
- Fear isn’t your identity.
- Your fears don’t decide your future.
- Breakthrough is possible.
- You will need help with working through fear.
When you can follow these, and start your journey, you will be well on your way to freedom. And you will begin to see dreams come true and successful in life.
What fears are holding you back from your dreams? How might you be able to take your first steps today? Share in the responses below.
Jack Heimbigner loves to see people’s lives change and see them chase their dreams. Check out his Maximize Your Morning email course to start chasing your dreams today!
