{"id":22651,"date":"2013-10-24T20:14:57","date_gmt":"2013-10-25T04:14:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/?p=22651"},"modified":"2015-11-10T15:51:18","modified_gmt":"2015-11-10T23:51:18","slug":"overcome-fear-live-dreams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/overcome-fear-live-dreams\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Overcome Fear and Live Your Dreams"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Changing my life was easy.<\/p>\n

Laughably<\/em> easy.<\/p>\n

I e-mailed a resume, did a 12 minute Skype interview, and typed up a letter of resignation.\u00a0 I then packed up and left the small town where I’d spend my first 34 years on the planet.\u00a0 All in all, it probably consumed an hour of my time.<\/strong><\/p>\n

So why, prior to that, did I spend 10 years working in a job I hated, to pay the mortgage on a house I didn’t love, in a town where I never belonged?\u00a0 Why did I spend so many years of my life experiencing unhappiness?\u00a0 Why didn’t I put in this hour of work sooner?<\/p>\n

I think the answer is simple: fear.\u00a0 For much of my life, fear has been the dominating force behind all of my decisions.<\/strong>\u00a0 I was afraid that I was inadequate, and that I would never find an employer that would hire me.\u00a0 I was afraid that I would fail, and that my family would starve.\u00a0 I was afraid to give up the “security” of my previous job in order to find happiness.<\/p>\n

In so many aspects of our lives, fear is the invisible wall that keeps us from moving forward.\u00a0 Fear is the wall that prevents us from reaching our potential, and finding happiness. Fear comes in disguise, dressed up as sensibility. It tells us that we are being sensible.\u00a0 Fear told me that I was a parent, so of course it would be irresponsible to take unnecessary risks.\u00a0 Kids need stability, and taking any financial risks would jeopardize our daughter’s well-being.\u00a0 Fear told me that I was realistic–I knew that I was lucky to find the job that I had.\u00a0 It was because of fear, that I was convinced that I was certainly nothing spectacular, and I would not stand out from the herd of other applicants somewhere else.<\/p>\n

It is amazing how many lies our brains feed us.\u00a0 And until we can see them for what they are, they become reality to us.\u00a0<\/strong> One of the most important skills we can learn, is to step back and view our thoughts as a third party.\u00a0 Do that, and see how many fear-based lies your brain is trying to pass off as truth.\u00a0 In my case, it was an unbelievable amount of lies, that led me to feel trapped in my situation.<\/p>\n

And that situation was gradually worsening, until everything came crumbling down last January.\u00a0 Even as that happened, the fear persisted.\u00a0 I was unhappy, and my physical and mental health were suffering for it.\u00a0 I was struggling in my marriage, and not taking as good care of my daughter as I could.\u00a0 I was harming more than myself, by letting fear paralyze me.<\/p>\n

In the end, I did move forward. I did take the steps to make the change.\u00a0 At the end of July, we signed the deed of our house back over the the bank, and donated most of our possessions.\u00a0<\/strong> With whatever items would fit in our station wagon and a small U-haul trailer, the three of us drove over 1200 miles across the country, to Houston.\u00a0 On the balcony of our small, sparsely-appointed apartment, we spend our evenings sipping wine and enjoying our fresh start.<\/p>\n

Here are some tips for overcoming fear and creating the life of your dreams:<\/h2>\n