Fear Itself.
The key to overcoming fear is understanding the real problem.
This part of the site looks at fear itself. What it is. Where it comes from. Why it's so important to you. And most importantly how to overcome fear.
This page, and the articles linking from it, are meant to convince you that it doesn't matter what you think you have a fear of. It's always the same challenge.
Fear itself.
Before we get into that, here's an interesting list.
Top 60 Fears Searched For On The Internet
The list of fears is in order, starting with the one people search for the most, fear of flying.
- Fear of flying.
- Fear of public speaking.
- Fear of heights.
- Fear of intimacy.
- Fear of failure.
- Fear of success.
- Fear of the dark.
- Fear of rejection.
- Fear of death.
- Fear of God.
- Fear of commitment.
- Fear of spiders.
- Fear of driving.
- Fear of needles.
- Fear of water.
- Fear of clowns.
- Fear of abandonment.
- Fear of change.
- Fear of being alone.
- Fear of the Dentist.
- Fear of dogs.
- Fear of long words.
- Fear of falling.
- Fear of cats.
- Fear of germs.
- Fear of sex.
- Fear of money.
- Fear of bridges.
- Fear of the number 13.
- Fear of the unknown.
- Fear of a black planet.
- Fear of buying a home.
- Fear of technology.
- Fear of Friday the 13th.
- Fear of aging.
- Fear of open spaces.
- Fear of bees.
- Fear of Doctors.
- Fear of love.
- Fear of swallowing.
- Fear of being touched.
- Fear of vomiting.
- Fear of self.
- Fear of eating.
- Fear of hair.
- Fear of writing.
- Fear of a black hat.
- Fear of chickens.
- Fear of peanut butter.
- Fear of crime.
- Fear of Halloween.
- Fear of embarrassment.
- Fear of stupid people.
- Fear of surfaces.
- Fear of music.
- Fear of flowers.
- Fear of anxiety.
- Fear of selling.
- Fear of cold calling.
- Fear of loneliness.
Fear Is The Real Enemy
Isn't that interesting!
When you look at the volume of search it gets even more enlightening. If you add up the search volume for all 60 items, a whopping one third is for the first 2 items - flying and public speaking.
So if you think you're afraid of speaking, it sure looks like you're not on your own!
Of course it doesn't mean you're correct. After all you are part of a species who's more afraid of peanut butter than crime.
It looks like humans are capable of being afraid of just about anything. Even sex!
No. Roosevelt was nearly correct when he said the only thing we have to fear is fear itself. He certainly identified the real enemy. And as old Sun Tzu, the Chinese General said nearly 3000 years ago ..."Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer."
Overcoming Fear
The key to overcoming fear is to get closer to your enemy.
But don't worry, just remember Socrates advice that the unexamined life isn't worth living. It's good advice, because when you really examine your fear you'll discover some surprising things, such as:
- You're not afraid ofanything. You're just afraid.
- The root cause of all fear is the same mental error.
- You cannot be afraid of the unknown. It's impossible.
- All fears can be related to 3 ideas.
- There's only one way to totally eliminate your fears, and you'll want to do it when you learn it.
By the way, I want to make it very clear that there's no organized religion here. That doesn't mean I'm scared of religious teachers and their teachings. That would be fear talking wouldn't it!
The reality is this wisdom comes from a wide variety of people (some religious, some not) who've been thinking about this stuff for thousands of years. What I've done in this site is focus some of that clarity and insight onto a very modern problem.
Fear itself.
"There is no greater illusion than fear,no greater wrong than preparing to defend yourself,no greater misfortune than having an enemy.
Whoever can see through all fearwill always be safe."Tao Te Ching
Articles About How To Overcome Fear Itself
Top 10 Fears
For an insightful slideshow about the fearsome ten-some.
https://www.no-fear-public-speaking.com/top10fears.html
Facing Fear
Why most self-help advice about fear will never work because it ignores the importance of facing up to the so-called fear.
https://www.no-fear-public-speaking.com/facingfear.html
Fear Quotes
Use these quotes to develop more understanding.
https://www.no-fear-public-speaking.com/fearquotes.html
Social Anxiety Symptoms
If you think you might have them, read the full list here. There's also a new treatment approach which actually works!
https://www.no-fear-public-speaking.com/socialanxietysymptoms.html
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