You want to implement some changes in your life but fear seems to always get in the way. You procrastinate and catastrophize. Your anxiety levels go up and you decide nope change isn’t for me.

You’ve dreamed of a better future for a while but are simply too afraid to take even the smallest of chances. What can you do to challenge your fear and make the changes you want?

7 Tips to overcoming your fear of the future.

Remember you do have the courage to do this.

Things might not have worked out before. But you survived and learnt from your mistakes and achievements. Everyone makes mistakes. We realize that we can still go on and do what we need to do no matter how we feel. We feel the fear and do it anyway as they say.

It’s important to not just look at your mistakes though. We need to see all we have achieved, no matter how small, and celebrate them too. All too often we only focus on the mistakes and don’t give ourselves enough credit for what we have achieved. We need to raise our self-belief and realize that if we can believe in ourselves a bit more. We can face any future and our fears will reduce.

Don’t try to change it all at once. Instead take things nice and small and also slowly. 

When we try and change too much at once, or try to make bigger changes, we run out of steam very quickly. Our mind will then use that sense of failure against us the next time we try.

Learn that it is okay to, and better to, make small changes in one area of our life at a time. Focus on the here and now. Use the motto “one day at a time” to ease your worries as you make progress every day.

Try using visualization to see a positive outcome for the future. 

This is a great way to reduce your fear and stress about the future. Imagine a positive outcome for the life you want instead of a bleak one. We don’t have to visualize too far into the future either. You can start by imagining something new you currently have to do with a positive outcome.

Remember this is about experiencing the emotions and feelings of victory even before it happens. It will help your mind get on the right track and seek positive outcome solutions.

Make sure your basic self-care is on track.

If you are not looking after yourself then you feel more off balance. Your fears and anxiety levels will rise. Check out my blog here for more information on basic self-care. Or check out my book The Buidling Blocks Of Self-Care for a more detailed self-help course on introducing self-care into your life. 

Learn to reduce your stress levels and relax.

A very simple meditation may be all you need to relax and start reducing your stress levels. Taking a few breaths can help you reduce your anxiety during the day. Try a 3 minute breather when you feel your anxiety or stress levels raised. I have a podcast on this here.

Create a relaxing playlist. Head out for a walk. Unplug from your phone and computer. Read a book. Engage in a hobby or interest. Are all ways to have a positive effect on your stress levels. See the dos and don’ts below for more tips.

Take a positive step towards tackling your worry.

Remember, worry will only make it feel much worse. Most of the time it never comes true anyway. We cannot predict the future. Remember also, all the worrying will not change the outcome. Plus it will more than likely be positive anyway. So enjoy the journey.

If you need to worry then create a worry period. That is a set amount of time you are allowed to worry, procrastinate or catastrophising in. But once this time is up you cannot worry for the rest of the day. Write down what you are worrying about and reflect on it. Is it realistic? What are the chances of it coming true? What is the worst that could happen? Now if that happened, what actions could you take to protect yourself? Making a list like this can be reassuring as we feel more in control.

Next make sure you only focus on the day in question. Have a plan for that day and stick to it.

Don’t forget to get help if you need it.

If you feel your anxiety and fears are getting the better of you, and affecting your day to day life, then ask for help from a therapist. A therapist can help you gain back control of your life. They can give you exercises that will help reduce your fears, anxiety and get to the root cause of your fears, etc.

A few more simple do and don’ts to help protect your positive mindset.

1. Stop reading newspapers or watch the news. If something important happens someone will always tell you. These forms of media can be very negative. If you are trying to create a more positive life you will be surprised at how much your brain takes in that has a negative effect on it. Remember you are trying to reduce your fear of the future to induce a positive outlook and make changes.
2. Be careful of what you watch on TV and in Films. Again, these can have a negative impact. As your brain doesn’t understand what is real or not.
3. Limit your time on social media via all your devices. Again for the same reason as news, TV and film. But also because it may create a sense of failure when we start to compare ourselves to those on social media.
4. Limit alcohol intake. Yes alcohol can make you feel like your inhibitions are reduced or gone. But that is simply untrue. It was probably fear holding your back all along.  Alcohol can cause a whole host of problems for people. From sleep problems, financial difficulties, addiction issues, hinder decision making, etc. It will only increase your fears rather than reduce them longer term.
5. Try to sleep 7-9 hours. If you are not sleeping enough your mind will be open to more negative influences and thinking. With less sleep your mind will not be able to make full, positive, and proper decisions. You’ll find more on how to improve your sleep here. Or you can read more about it and how to help yourself alongside many other topics in my book here.
6. Get creative and learn to use it to express your emotions and feelings. Journal your ideas, goals, dreams. Start brain dumping your thoughts and lists in your journal to help reduce your stress levels. Remember getting creative also helps your leadership skills, outside of the box thinking and productivity. So try painting, music (listening, playing or singing), woodwork, poetry, writing, sports, reading, etc., to gain some positive influence.
7. Use lists: Create a “Not My Responsibility” list. Hand back everything you do for others that they could do for themselves. This will free up some of your time to do what you love. Or what about a useful/not useful list? What is going on in your mind right now? Is this thought useful or not useful? Start to make a note of your thoughts. Are they useful to your current situation or not? Which ones are clouded with fears and delusions? Train your mind to watch for these types of thoughts and counter act them by asking yourself could they be really true? At the start you will do this in hindsight. But little by little you will learn to correct them immediately.

Work With Me.

Remember you are allowed to ask for support. No one is an island. If you need extra support then you can also work with me. We all struggle with stress and overwhelm from time to time. If you find this has become a problem for you and you’d like some support then schedule an appointment with me.