Fear and anxiety are natural emotions.
You may not know exactly why you feel these emotions, but when you do, you think something bad is about to happen—even if you don’t quite know what.
Since fear and anxiety do not naturally accomplish something positive, the trick is to manage them and put them to your use, rather than trying to ignore them.
The first step is to acknowledge these emotions—since you cannot initially change them.
The next step is to visualize them as positive sources for motivation. This can be likened to a soldier about to go into battle. The soldier uses courage to act regardless of the fear and anxiety.
My father, as articulate as he was, feared to speak in public. As is so common, many people are dreadfully afraid to speak in front of an audience. As a severe stutterer most of my early life, I knew the only way to improve was to practice speaking in front of audiences.
Today there are organizations, such as Toastmasters International, that specialize in learning to become a successful platform speaker—regardless of one’s fear or anxiety.
Tip: Think of anxiety and fear as motivational prompts to overcome them.
