Overcoming the Fear of Change

We all deal with change differently. And this applies to every form of change that you have and that you will encounter. Sure, change and uncertainty can be nerve-wracking, that is to be expected. But are there times when your anxiety just takes over and makes moving forward so difficult that it feels impossible, keeping you stuck in your comfort zone? What is the root cause of that paralysis?

There are several reasons that we can fear change: from past experiences of tumultuous households to past toxic relationships making us need routine and certainty in order to stay safe, to having dealt with loss of a loved one through death or separation of some kind that can bring up feelings of grief, anxiety or even guilt when we feel like we don’t have full control in a situation. Maybe it is our inner perfectionist who cannot deal with doing something new in case that means doing something not quite perfectly. Fear of failure and even not meeting expectations can leave us fearing change itself.

There are ways to overcome this fear:

• Surround yourself with people who can support you and ASK FOR HELP!
• Learn to recognize negative thought patterns, such as catastrophizing, and find ways to flip the script, think about and feel into how the new situation can inspire positive change instead.
• Ground yourself in the present moment – use breathing exercises, yoga, meditation or journaling to develop self awareness and body awareness and thereby improve your well being.
• Reflect on positive past experiences – redirect your mind from going to worst case scenarios and think about all of the times that you have successfully navigated what you thought would be difficult or fearful situations – the fact is that you were successful in those times – can’t deny facts right?! Use these facts to boost your confidence in this new scenario. You have done hard things before there is no reason you cannot be successful this time!
• Let go of the goddamn perfectionism. Good enough is good enough, you know?!

Let’s use your analytical, overthinking brain to move you forward rather than get you stuck and paralyzed – what if your brain looked for evidence of why your fear is not justified, focusing on the facts of how you can do hard things and have survived 100% of your worst days? When your mind focuses on the fear and why change and uncertainty are scary, paralyzing things, can’t you just as easily find evidence to the contrary – the answer is YES! – your mind is that powerful and shifting to find the positive facts is possible and quite frankly, will change your perspective, and your life!

Give it a go and see what happens. And remember you are not in this alone, asking for help is a strength, not a weakness! You’ve got this!

Be Well, Real Well,
Tracey xo