Fearlessly Into The Unknown

We all tend to have comfort zones. Comfort zones are all those situations and environments with which you feel comfortable with, mainly because it is ‘known’ to you – you’ve had conscious contact with it before and because of that you have a sense of certainty about what to expect and how to handle it. Anything outside your comfort zone feels uncomfortable because inherent in the unknown lies a certain level of uncertainty.

As soon as something unknown or unfamiliar comes into your life you tend to loose your sense of certainty, and out of this uncertainty your mind starts to ‘make up’ potential meanings in trying to establish a level of certainty. Most of the time this not only creates fear, but also breeds it. Fear gets constructed in the imagination by ‘making-up’ meanings to events and circumstances that has not happened – and probably never will. It is only natural to feel fear as it is one of your most primordial instincts designed to protect you.

Unfortunately, we’ve come to mistreat the emotion of fear since we tend to treat a lot of trivial things as potentially dangerous by imagining the worst possible outcomes. This is what keeps us trapped in inaction and procrastination. The unknown is just too scary, so you stay in your comfort zone where you feel certain that you know what to expect and how to handle it.

Those who achieve extraordinary lives share the fundamental strength of courage. Courage is not the absence of fear, but the willingness to break through your 'limitations' and take action despite feeling the fear of uncertainty. Courage breeds more courage. Only by using your ability to break through the fears that prevents you from living your life full out, will you ever experience the fullness of what you can really be. Courage is not a special gift or a special skill, but simply you deciding to take action even though you feel the fear. Most fears are imaginary anyway. Fear is the product of your imagination because you mostly fear that which hasn’t happened yet and anything that is still to come can only exist in your imagination.

Fear was designed to be a warning and a call to action. It was never meant to keep you from taking action. I recently read a story about a 84 year old grandmother who lifted a car to release her trapped grandson after an accident. Fear truly is a call to action that empowers you to reach even deeper and access ALL your resources - resources that you have no real conscious awareness of, but which will become available to you when you burn your bridges and take action regardless.

Fear is like a balloon that gets inflated by your thoughts. The more you think about it the more you imagine the worst possible outcome, the bigger it gets. You have to own yourself and owning your own thoughts will empower you to control and direct the focus of your mind. By directing your mental focus you are in control. Whether you feel fear or excitement is only a difference in your thoughts and your imagination. The experience of stepping into the unknown really is up to you and your focus. Know this though: it is only your actions that will take you from where you are to where you want to be. Fear will only keep you where you are. Step up and step out of what feels comfortable. Stretch yourself and expand your comfort zone.

The easiest and most effective way to banish fear is to make contact with what you fear; to take it out of the realm of your imagination and bring it out in the open; into a conscious experience. It is then when you will realize that fear is always a lot bigger in your head than it is in reality. When you stare the tiger in the eye you render it powerless. After having conscious contact with what you fear you no longer have to rely on your imagination to come up with meanings, but you can actually rely on your memory. Fear cannot flourish in your memory, but only in your imagination.

Take action and just do it. ALL of life is out there. You merely need to go and get it. You can be anything, experience anything and do anything – whatsoever you desire is available to you. Life is not a cruel hoax where you have to suffer the pain of not fulfilling your desires. If you can dream it you can do it. Inherent in your desires are the seeds and mechanics for it’s fulfillment. Don’t let fear keep you from living the life of your dreams. There are no ‘rights’ or ‘wrongs’ other than those experiences which you make so. You can’t screw it up. So why not just go for it?

Ultimately your fears are the only thing that will prevent you from taking action and making your dreams and desires a reality. Since most of your fears are imaginary, that which prevents you from getting what you want is only an illusion.

Breaking out of your comfort zones and stepping into the unknown, can be as scary as it is fulfilling. Although we all fear the unknown, very few of us actually take action despite our fears to break out of what feels comfortable in the moment.

Deon Du Plessis is the creator of A Course of Action, a free e-course designed to empower you to break through your limitations, take action and transform your ideas into reality. Visit The Self Improvement Gym for more self improvement and personal development insights and resources.

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