How to overcome Doubt and Fear?

Sitting in a popular Café, in clean new clothes, enjoying my mug of hot chocolate, I start typing my new blog entry. I think of what I might do this evening: Meet up with some friends and have a drink in a bar? Watch a movie? Go shopping for new gadgets? Or maybe just chill at home in my comfortable couch, browsing on my laptop or playing some new games…

My phone rings, I got a message! My friends? No it’s the bank.. My salary just got transferred to my account.. Sweet! Maybe I should go shopping then!

And this is when that little voice in the head starts kicking in. “Enjoy it, because in 2 months, you’ll be left alone, no money, no comfort, no pleasure”.

This is when I start suddenly to doubt. Am I really making a wise decision? Leaving all this behind to start a new life from scratch, travelling around, taking photos and trying to make a living with it, is it REALLY a good idea?

Doubt, Fear.. They keep on paralyzing us from time to time and try to murder the motivation we need to carry on with our plans. We’ve all experienced that. Many people just drop their plans or dreams from fear of the unknown, because they are listening to that little voice in their head. We resist change!
So what should we do to make these little voices shut up? Easy! Prove them wrong!

Very often, our doubts and fears are based on preconceived ideas and beliefs. Since childhood, we are conditioned to believe in “facts” that slow us down and prevent us from straying out of the path society or families impose us. The World is dangerous out there! Take recent examples: “Crisis”, the “Swine Flu”, Terrorist attacks… Scary! It’s a bad idea to leave your job, even though you hate it because you’ll probably stay unemployed and starve to death. It’s also a bad idea to travel in some countries because of the diseases and attacks!

There is always a risk in everything you do. As there is a risk when you cross the street in your hometown or have a heart attack while working in your cubicle.
We often use these beliefs and project ourselves in the future. Negative thoughts end up creating doubt and fear settles in.

So what is the solution? Analyze your doubts!

It is easy to just dismiss them trying to convince yourself that they are false reasons. It could work for a while, but that little pesky voice will keep on coming back again and again. It’s just like a “snooze” button. You might be able to get away with it for a while, but dismissing the thoughts without really analyzing them will keep them at the back of your head, and become an emotional baggage that would end up slowing you down. Just like pushing the dust under the carpet! You might know they are wrong but you have to prove it to yourself!

For every doubt you have, listen to it and try to come up with a solution that would prove it wrong, or a plan that would make it seem pointless.

I often am afraid I would be left alone with no income. But if I really think about it, why should I be left alone? I am traveling!! I WILL be meeting amazing people everyday probably. So many opportunities to make new friends! Plus, communicating is easy today with so many options to keep contact with my loved ones. I just can’t be alone! Why be afraid?
And in case I run out of money, I have so many opportunities to find a job. Sure I might not be able to have a great job with a great income (who knows) but enough to be able to continue traveling and develop my photography is all I need. And in the worst case? I just put all my traveling on hold and come back to find a better job and come up with better plans. In all cases, I will have learned a lot from traveling and my mistakes would have made me stronger, wiser and more confident.

It’s just logic thinking. Take the doubt, analyze it, come up with solutions and there you go! Those little voices won’t have any arguments against you anymore! They might come up with new ones, but you’ll just repeat the same process.

Finally, the best solution is to avoid projecting yourself in the future with negative thoughts. Live NOW, think NOW. Nobody knows for sure what tomorrow is made of. You might fail, or you might succeed even better than you thought! Keep your thoughts positive and don’t always be on a defensive mode. The world is not a dangerous place. If you advance hidden behind your huge shield, you won’t see the opportunities that present themselves before you.

Have Faith, keep positive and carry on with your dreams! :)