We all have different fears and things that we’d rather not have to deal with; stuff that we’re afraid of, whether we’d like to admit it or not. Sometimes we commit acts of bravery without even realizing it, just moving along our journey to becoming better men. Being fearless isn’t about suppressing your fears, it’s about making them nonexistent. We tend to overlook how often we actually practice fearlessness in our everyday lives, especially in today’s fast-paced, high-risk world.
1. Launching a Business
Anyone who has ever had to build a business from the ground up knows how intimidating the process can be. The fact is, the endeavor can only go one of the three ways – it can flourish and become a highly lucrative company, it can do alright and become a small business with a decent amount of revenue, or it will do horribly and wind up closing down. To maximize your chances of success, you need to eliminate the fear of the latter two possibilities and operate from the mindset that you are going to have a highly lucrative outcome.
2. Conquering Addiction
Most people overlook the role of fear in addiction. Most addicts are subconsciously afraid to quit because they know how many problems they’re going to have to start fixing in their life once they can no longer fall back on the next fix. There’s also the fear that they won’t be able to stay clean forever, so they rationalize relapsing by saying “there’s no point in even trying.” At Serenity Point Recovery, we always tell people that the first step in knocking an addiction of any kind is being brave enough to admit that you have a problem that needs to be solved.
3. Entering into a Dangerous Occupation
Every day we take for granted the people who risk their lives in dangerous occupations to allow our society to continue the way it is. Positions in the military, law enforcement, certain fishing industries, waste disposal, skyscraper construction, and a wide range of other dangerous occupations require the employee to abandon all fear and continue on with job.
4. Buying a Home
When you’re buying your first home it can feel like a massive commitment, and there’s lot of pressure standing behind the big “what ifs.” Like “what if this is the wrong neighborhood” or “what if the property values drop” or “what if we choose this house and then see a better one that we wish we would’ve gotten instead?” All of those are legitimate concerns, but if you want to actually follow through with the home buying process and enjoy the home you purchase, you’re going to have to abandon those fears altogether by replacing the doubt with research.
5. Extreme Sports and Thrill Seeking Activities
Activities like mountain climbing, hiking, skydiving, skiing, snowboarding, skateboarding, and wind sailing are just of the examples of things that can be very dangerous, yet are routinely enjoyed by men practicing fearlessness.
Learning to Recognize Fear
You probably act based on fear a lot more often than you’re aware of. Fear can be a very subtle and hidden emotion because you don’t always feel afraid. Learning to recognize when you’re doing something out of fear will help you counteract by doing whatever brave action would be required to defeat that fear. Per concluded our interview by saying “Addiction has a way of making you weak to your fears. So if you have any dependencies whatsoever, whether it be coffee, video games, cigarettes, or drugs, that sense of reliance on a substance or activity could be hurting your willpower and ability to confront your fears.”