“Trying not to be afraid of doing new things is like trying not to laugh at a funny joke: it’s impossible,” emotional well-being coach Nataly Cogan told CNBC Make It.
The job of a professional in this field is to help people identify and overcome their fears.
“We all have things that scare us in life,” says Cogan, but clarifies that the important thing is to remember that it is a natural human response that arises when we encounter something “unknown, challenging or uncertain”.
For the trainer, these are the three most common fears that she has detected in the people that prevent them from achieving success and also explains how to overcome them:
one. Fear of failure
When we face something new, we usually ask ourselves if we will succeed. Cogan recommends focusing on thinking that things can go well, because otherwise mental energy is lost to invest in achieving the goal.
To overcome this fear, he recommends asking ourselves two questions: How Does working on this challenge help me grow or get closer to my goal? and How can this challenge improve someone else’s life?
On the first one we can focus on thinking about how our idea can benefit the industry and the freedom that we will obtain in working with our own schedule. And regarding the second, he points out that when we think about how our actions can benefit others, we are more resilient and more motivated.
two. Fear of not being good enough
Cogan comments that we usually question our skills and professional preparation in the face of new challenges, so it is necessary to self-edit our thoughts.
Our ideas are generally colored by the brain’s negativity bias and are not based on facts. So it is convenient to ask ourselves: Is this thought true? What do I gain by believing that I am not good enough? Will this mentality encourage me to give everything?
Given this, the expert suggests thinking about what we can do to increase the chances of success. In the case of a promotion, he suggests taking an online course or seeking the advice of a mentor, to strengthen our position.
3. Fear of disappointing others
Nobody likes to be a disappointment, says Nataly Cogan. The people who really care about you are not judges waiting to rate you on your performance, on the contrary, they want to see you succeed, even if it takes several tries to achieve it.
Finally, the coach urges understand yourself, identify your goals, and define what success means to you. In this way, the opinions of other people will affect us less.
You may also be interested in:
The Peruvian who was born in a town without electricity and is now a NASA engineer
From living on the street to marrying a millionaire, it is the example that everything can change!
The story of Eduardo García’s overcoming: one of the best Mexican chefs was deported from the US