“If you want to develop courage, do the thing you fear to do and keep on doing it until you get a record of successful experience behind you. That is the quickest and surest way ever yet to discovered to conquer fear.” ~Dale Carnegie
I waited on the sidelines to be called into the game. It was my first year playing Pop Warner football and I was scared (as were many of my other teammates). You’d think that after years in the martial arts I wouldn’t be scared, right? I was. I was venturing into the unknown for me. Yes, it was scary.
As I look back at the little boy that I once was, it would seem crazy to think that he’d be scared. All I know is that through the years I’ve done things where fear and even doubt crept into my being. In many ways, fear serves to protect us as well. It’s only when it gets to the point where we freeze into inaction where fear is really bad.
I’ve read books on being fearless and while that is well and good, it’s ain’t gonna happen. I mean, unless one has a brain that is not anyway connected to the fear processing areas. They include the thalamus, the sensory cortex, the hypothalamus, the amygdala and the hippocampus. There are many more areas of the brain responsible for fear processing, those are simply the main ones.
The thalamus makes the decision where each of the signals from the sensory inputs are dispersed.
The sensory cortex then makes an interpretation of that data.
The hippocampus retrieves memories and uses certain stimuli in order to put the data into its context.
The amygdala engages the emotional component and determines if a possible threat is imminent. It also will store memories of fear.
And the hypothalamus activates the “fight or flight” mechanism. And in some cases the freeze aspect too.
If the danger is something that needs to be dealt with immediately, then the brain will bypass the hippocampus and data gets sent to the amygdala where it goes to the hypothalamus for fast action. If not, then the brain will use the hippocampus to look at other options before taking the pathway to action.
Depending on the pathway taken, the hypothalamus will activate the “fight or flight” mechanism (or not). When it does happens, a myriad of hormones and other chemicals (including adrenaline and noradrenaline) are released into the blood stream. Additionally, corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) into the pituitary gland, activating the adrenal-cortical system are released as well.
What happens is that the body responds with numerous physical changes so that it can deal with the threat. Our heart rate increases rapidly, pupils will dilate (when we’re in the dark), veins constrict in order for blood to go the major muscles, muscles get tensed, details are lessened in order to see the big picture and nonessential systems (digestive and immune) are decreased dramatically. Now your body is ready to respond and hopefully deal with the threat effectively.
Every single animal possesses this same response. It’s a must for survival when needed.
Here’s the thing about fear, it’s still needed in today’s world. It tells us not to do something that may truly endanger us. If you have no fear, then you may probably walk into the middle of the freeway during rush hour and not even think twice about being hit by a speeding vehicle. What stops you? That fear response.
Beyond real danger, we’ve been conditioned to fear things that are not an actual danger, but a perceived one. Heck, we even learn to fear things by what we see on television. How many people stopped flying after 9/11/2001? There were many and many of those still don’t fly. There are even some who won’t even venture to go into a high skyscraper.
How can you tame your fear?
Well, it starts with taming the amygdala. That tiny almond-shaped part of the brain where memories of fear reside. Remember earlier when I described the bodies response to fear? Well, if you can control the response, you can control the fear. It’s about turning it around.
Body language has been used for eons in helping us deal with different situations. Animals do the same thing. They may even make themselves bigger to scare away a predator. I’ve taught how powerful the positioning of our body can help us in things like public speaking. Try this: Hold your arms straight into the air with your feet shoulder width apart. How do you feel? Happy and joyous, right? Body language is just one of the responses you can change to tame your fear.
Here are five other recommendations…
- Be aware of how you respond to fear. When you do this, then you can make the necessary changes. It’s important to learn to distinguish between real danger and perceived danger.
- Change the words you use. While body language is a powerful way to deal with fear, so are the words we tell ourselves. What we tell ourselves tend to create the response we have.
- Take several deep breaths. The process of deep breathing helps to calm the mind and body. It slows the heart rate. And it allows you to think again. When you can think, you can help make a better decision on the action to take.
- Take action. This allows your brain to process what you need to do with certain responses. Action is important in every aspect of life and it helps us to reach our dreams. The problem with many who have fear is that they end up taking no action at all. So, when you are facing fear when thinking about your dream, simply do something that moves you forward.
- Use hypnosis, cognitive behavioral therapy or similar tools if you are having a hard time taming that fear. Many times getting help from experts is a good thing.
I did go into that game. And yes, I did get hit. Yet, the more times I went into the field of play, the less fear I felt until one day I tamed it completely.
We all have fear and we always will. It is ingrained in each of us and will always be needed, just not in the context of most situations in modern society. When you tame your fear, you just might get past that office bully or some other yahoo. When you tame your fear, you can go after your dreams and not let anyone take it away from you. Now is the time to do just that.
Cheers,
Bob Choat, “Transformational Master Black Belt” 
America’s #1 Mind-Body Transformation Expert and author of Mind Your Own Fitness
