I’ve come to realize that there are four categories of fears that they tend to boil down to. These are: the fear of failure, fear of judgement, fear of change, and the fear of being the first.

So what do each of them entail?

Fear of Failure

Think of a time that you felt as if you weren’t good enough. So much so that you didn’t even want to go after what you wanted to do. This is the fear of failure. You have this negative thought engraved in your mind that you aren’t good enough for that project or next big move that you decide to just give up all together.

We’ve all experienced a time like this whether it was recently or occurred a long time ago. What is so difficult about this fear is that it holds us back from doing what we are set out to do.

Fear of Judgment

Next is the fear of judgement. We live in a society where it is so easy to let what others think about you affect your next move.

The fear of judgement is what hinders our voices and quiets us. We decide that it is best not to speak our minds or say what we truly feel because of the reaction we might get from others.

Our voices are one of the most powerful tools that we have yet it only takes a “what if” thought to silence us.

Fear of Change

I’m sure many of you have heard or even experienced the phrase that “change is inevitable.” Many people don’t realize that we need to go through change in our lives to grow.

It is so easy to remain in a comfortable position in our lives as being uncomfortable is a feeling that can be difficult to adjust to. All it takes is the fear of change to hold us back from being the best version of ourselves.

Fear of Being The First

When you don’t have guidance or anyone to assist you on a big life decision, the journey to wanting to do something “first” becomes so difficult. For me, this was making the move to California all by myself. I knew no one in California at all and the idea of wanting to just stay comfortable by staying where I was with the people that I knew crossed my mind very often.

At the end of the day, you can either choose to stay comfortable or follow your heart. I chose the latter.

The Solution to Overcoming These Fears

So, what is the pattern that you can see through all four types of these fears? They each hinder your ability to become the person that is waiting on the other side of fear.

That person on the other side of fear is your best, truest version of yourself because once you knock down the obstacle of fear, you have elevated into a stronger person physically, mentally and spiritually.

Over the course of my life thus far, I’ve discovered the solution to tackling these fears: look at each and every one of them from a place and mindset of love. Identify the opportunity that lies within each and every one of those fears.

Instead of identifying the negative “what ifs,” focus on the positive “what ifs.” Instead of worrying about what other people are going to think about what you do or say, think about how good you’ll feel when you speak your mind or decide to do what you love.

Rather than dwell on what you are comfortable with, view the uncomfortable as an exciting adventure that only you can experience by deciding to take the leap and go for it.

Think of how much personal growth you will experience when you decide to do something first.

No matter what fear you have, there is an opportunity on the other side of each and every one of them. Our minds are conditioned to view fear from a negative standpoint in our society.

It’s time we challenge those fears and highlight the good that can come from them because your best self is waiting; you just have to jump over that hurdle called fear that is trying to keep you quiet.

I’d like to invite you to dive deeper into holistic health with my new book: “Let Your Fears Make You Fierce: How to Turn Common Obstacles into Seeds for Growth” I hope to encourage you to shift from fear-based living to fierce living. Are you ready to take the next step?