Fear.
I don’t care who you are or where you come from, we all struggle with various fears on a daily basis. It’s one thing that unites us all, but it’s also something we don’t talk about very often. Instead, we often hear much more about hate, anger, jealousy, and criticism which only further leads to more fear. What if we just started talking more about what scares us?
Fear can be crippling. As someone who has suffered from chronic anxiety my entire life, I know that all too well. If left unchallenged, our fears can multiply. I personally fear failure, mistakes, judgment, health of myself and loved ones, not being worthy or deserving, disappointing myself and others. I even fear that I won’t be able to overcome my fears. Sometimes fears are on a smaller scale, but they seem difficult nonetheless – going out to see friends, making a difficult phone call, or getting back into an old sport. Fear can be motivating, “Oh I don’t want to mess up my speech, so I’m going to practice every day this week.” or demotivating, “I messed up and feel like an idiot, so I won’t make myself vulnerable again.”
Because of our fears and in spite of our fears, I’m making a special challenge for the month of August. This month I’m personally challenging myself and any of you who are interested to take control of our fears, whatever they may be!
From the wise words of Eleanor Roosevelt, my challenge for August is to do one thing a day that scares you.
The beauty of this challenge is that YOU define it. You make the rules and decide what is challenging for you. We all know ourselves better than anyone and it’s up to us to define this challenge in a way that meets our own needs.
I currently have some things in my life that are holding me back and I’ll be working daily this month to challenge fears and negativity and make room for personal growth.
To keep myself accountable, I’m logging my daily feats on a calendar each day. By the end of the month, I’ll hopefully have a log of large and small fears that I overcame. The end result is intended to build confidence, inspire new personal challenges, and remind ourselves that we are more powerful than we know.
How to participate
As always, let me know in the comments if you’d like to join in! I’d love to hear about what fears you’ve overcome all month long, so feel free to leave a note on my blog or Facebook page and tell me about it. If you write a recap at the end of the month on your blog and send it to me, I will try to compile all of the links in a post so others can read about your journey too. I’d love to hear about your experiences!
Last but not least, here are some quotes on fear to get us inspired: (source)
“There are two basic motivating forces: fear and love. When we are afraid, we pull back from life. When we are in love, we open to all that life has to offer with passion, excitement, and acceptance. We need to learn to love ourselves first, in all our glory and our imperfections. If we cannot love ourselves, we cannot fully open to our ability to love others or our potential to create. Evolution and all hopes for a better world rest in the fearlessness and open-hearted vision of people who embrace life.”
― John Lennon“Expose yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power, and the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes. You are free.”
― Jim Morrison“Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.”
― Marie Curie“Don’t be afraid of your fears. They’re not there to scare you. They’re there to let you know that something is worth it.”
― C. JoyBell C.
For more inspiring quotes, see my quote page.
If you are looking for more personal work, my Gratitude Challenge, could work hand in hand with this month’s challenge.
Here’s to August!
Love this! I am in :) I read through your ‘about me’ and journey the other day- very inspiring!
At first when I read this I couldn’t think of what I was afraid of right now. I mean I’m afraid of a number of things, but I’m making an effort to change a lot of things already in my life I just wasn’t sure what else I could add to it. Then I realized something that I am afraid of doing that I really do want to do. I’ve been wanting to write a novel for years. I get ideas, write them down, and then I come across a road block of uncertainty and I am overwhelmed at the idea of trying to attempt something as so big as writing a novel when I at the very least don’t even read that much. But I got a dream the other day that inspired me again, and as I was writing it in my journal I decided I wanted to try it again. This happened shortly before you posted this, but now I realize it is a real fear to not be good at something. I really want to travel and I know if I aspire at a profession such as writing then I could really reach my goals. I am studying to become an architect so I’m not sure if I can add writing classes to my schedule easily. I guess I am afraid of going all in, to really go for it, and invest time and effort into such an endeavor I’m not even sure I have any sort of a talent in. I guess this month then, if I’m going to tackle one fear, I guess I better get writing :)
Great post Angela. I think we all have things we can work on. You’re brave to put this out there and I think it will help many people see they are not alone in their fears or anxiety. We all have it to some degree. I like the new look around here by the way!
I just started a gratitude challenge! Perhaps I’ll tackle this one next!
Great timing for this challenge! I just did the scariest thing I think I’ve ever done – two weeks ago, I decided to not return to school in the fall and pursue my dream of becoming a yoga teacher (and eventually opening a yoga studio)! Now that I don’t have a clearly defined path (i.e., graduate school), life is a bit scarier – but a whole lot more exciting! I’m also travelling out West alone for the first time ever, which I’m sure will bring up some fear and anxiety, but also excitement. Thanks Angela for all your inspiration :)
I love that you inspire us to be better! I just saw this now but I am so in and I in fact did something yesterday that was scary. I too have things that are holding me back but I never framed or worded it like. Now that I see it like that I am anxious to conquer those things and make me stronger.
I’m in, love it! Yours is one of the first blogs I ever read and got me to start my own blog.
I am getting ready for a major move in the next year, and like some of the others realize that I want more out of life that a soul destroying job, so hubby and I are attempting both to do a total life rehaul in our early 40’s without having to start life from scratch! Scares the hell out of us both as we have built our life up so far and are moving to a new country and starting from scratch. We both feel there has got to be more to life than working 12-14 hours a day, commuting 3 hours and being stressed out all the time.
Thanks for sharing!
x Steph
Love this idea. Count me in!
I’m going to change this challenge a little to be this: In August, do ONE thing that scares you.
I am going into my second year of teaching students with moderate to severe autism and I’m terrified to the point where I’m sick to my stomach. Last year was SO difficult. I keep saying to my fiance “I can’t do it. I can’t do this again.” But that attitude is not making things any better. My goal for August is just to get back into my classroom without QUITTING!
What a great challenge! Conquering fears is definitely hard but this challenge is a step in the right direction!
Great idea! I suffer from anxiety and am slowly learning over time to overcome it. This challenge sounds perfect for me. Already have a few ideas in my head…
By the way, your blog has been such an inspiration since I found it a few months ago. Thank you Angela!
Thank you Heather, I’m so glad to hear that!
This is so completely relevant to me right now, I’d like to join you on this journey!
I cannot tell you how much you have affected my life Angela! I gain so much from your blog and all that you offer here. Because of your guidance and example, I am running my first ever 10K next weekend, I have slowly but surely dropped extra weight that I had put on over the years, and my negative body image and food-related anxiety has decreased tremendously! I also feel less moody and generally peppier with all the new exercise and veggies in my life. I’m flirting with the concept of going vegan, honestly if it weren’t for family and friends and social issues I would, but hopefully I will get there. My husband and I eat vegan about 75% of the week now, and I have never felt better.
I probably think “what would Angela do” like ten times a day, and am happier than ever with the changes I have made in my life. Really girl, cannot thank you enough.
Just had to tell you that.
Also, your new blog layout is beautiful, and your No-Bake Chocolate Avocado Torte is the best thing I have ever put in my mouth. I am impressing many family members and friends this summer with it!
You’re my Oprah–
Ann
Ann, you are so sweet! Thank you for your kind words, it means the world to me. :)
Congrats on all the healthy changes you are making in your life, no one can do that, but YOU!
I’m in!
I love this challenge. I’ve long been a believer that fears are like bullys – you just need to face them and they’ll back down. As I was reading the post, I realized that there are a couple of fears that I haven’t faced….now I will. My fears of regaining the weight I dropped and being alone are being called out on the mat!
What a wonderful idea! I’d love to join in if that’s still possible.
I have fears aplenty, of which the upside is that I will have plenty of things to chose from each day ;)
Thanks again for this action-idea; I think it’s a truly wonderful idea. Very positive!
I read Brene Brown’s book, The Gifts of Imperfection. It is a fabulous book, really unique in it s insight into human behavior and emotions. She is a shame researcher and talks a lot about courage and shame resilience. I think you would love the book.
I’m in! One of my goals for the summer was to try a new food item or recipe every week that I would otherwise be intimidated by. So far the results have been amazing! I also am getting my hand back into directing plays and am quite nervous about starting that again! Can’t wait!
Great challenge! I’ve had moderate to severe anxiety since my father passed away, now it’s finally time to stop being afraid! Thank you for this challenge! :)
This is great timing because I am going through a really bad, horrible, heart-wrenching breakup and need to do things to gain back my confidence. Thank you for this