{"id":346713,"date":"2025-12-16T09:56:51","date_gmt":"2025-12-16T09:56:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/uncategorized\/how-to-overcome-fear-dean-bokhari\/"},"modified":"2025-12-16T09:56:51","modified_gmt":"2025-12-16T09:56:51","slug":"how-to-overcome-fear-dean-bokhari","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=346713","title":{"rendered":"How to Overcome Fear | Dean Bokhari"},"content":{"rendered":"


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This is a sample lesson from my flagship productivity program, Make it Happen<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

As the author Amy Cuddy writes in her book, Presence<\/span><\/a>:<\/p>\n

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\u201c\u2026 stage fright can feel like a paralyzing overdose of anxiety. And what do people tell us to do when we\u2019re anxious? They tell us \u2026 to calm down<\/em>. As it turns out, that might just be the very worst thing they can say. You see, anxiety is what psychologists describe as a high-arousal emotion \u2026 when we\u2019re anxious, we occupy a heightened state of psychological vigilance.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re hyper-alert. Our hearts race, we break out into a sweat, our cortisol may spike\u2014all of these reactions are controlled automatically by our nervous system. And it\u2019s virtually impossible for most people to shut off that kind of automatic arousal, to abruptly de-escalate it. Not only can we not calm it down, but when someone tells us to calm down, it also reminds us of how calm we are not, which stokes our anxiety even more.\u201d \u2014 Amy Cuddy, Presence<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

But how do we deal with \u201chigh-arousal\u201d emotions like fear, nervousness, and anxiety?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

To figure that out, Amy Cuddy (the author I just quoted) points to the work of Harvard researcher Alison Wood Brooks, and goes on to tell us about another<\/i>\u00a0high-arousal emotion that\u2019s actually not so negative at all; and is in fact, quite positive\u2014excitement:<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cBrooks predicted that we may not be able to extinguish arousal (fear, anxiety, nervousness), but we should be able to change the way we interpret it. So rather than fruitlessly trying to change the arousal level of our emotional states from high to low, what if we try to change them from negative to positive? From anxiety<\/strong> to excitement<\/strong>?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

In other words: Instead of trying to get rid of fear, try TRANSFORMING it into excitement.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

How to use this Make it Happen method<\/h2>\n

Next time you feel fearful, nervous, or stressed \u2014 remember the following tips: <\/span><\/p>\n

1. <\/span>
Instead of trying to get rid of fear, try transforming it. <\/span><\/h3>\n

Fear and excitement are both highly energetic states. They\u2019re also related to one another. Let yourself feel the fear, and instead of trying to ignore it (which doesn\u2019t work), embrace<\/em><\/strong> it and transform<\/em><\/strong> it into excitement and enthusiasm.\u00a0<\/span>Some examples:<\/span><\/p>\n

When you\u2019re feeling afraid or anxious about something:<\/span><\/p>\n