5 Ways to Overcome Fear & Anxiety

5 Ways to Overcome Fear and Anxiety

This episode is designed to be a practical and tactical resource for dealing with the fear and anxiety that you may experience when preparing to share the gospel. We will cover the subject of fear in more detail later and we will talk about what to do in preparation for witnessing as well, but this should help in the mean time. As a matter of fact, these techniques can be used anytime you are feeling fearful or anxious for any reason…

• Imagination is a tool to be used..
• We live in a world today that relies very heavily on communication
• 74% of people are terrified to get in front of an audience. Same goes for speaking to strangers

1) Breathing is the short circuit for anxiety

• Stop
• Focus on your breath
• Take a breath in (to the quick count of 7 in your mind)
• Then slowly breathe out (to the quick count of 11 in your mind)

Get some fresh air

2) Prepare for peaceful performance

3) Use a different part of your brain

Get personal – Tell stories

4) Get control of your imagination

5) Use the AWARE technique

• A: Accept the anxiety. Don’t try to fight it.
• W: Watch the anxiety. Just watch it and when you notice it, scale your level of fear and start to breathe longer on the out-breath.
• A: Stands for ‘Act normally’. Carry on talking or behaving as if nothing is different. This sends a powerful signal to your unconscious mind that its over-dramatic response is actually not needed because nothing that unusual is going on. Like fire fighters coming out and seeing that no emergency is happening and so going back to the fire station.
• R: Repeat the above steps in your mind if necessary.
• E: Expect the best. One of the greatest feelings in life is the realization that you can control fear much more than you thought possible.

TIP: Talk to someone who can help
Talking to someone about your problems and feelings of anxiety might seem like the last thing you want to do, but it will probably be the best thing to do! You aren’t the only one feeling anxious, and there are a lot of people who want to help. If you’re at church, talk with your pastor or someone else you trust, or at school, head to your counselor or a teacher you trust and share how you’re feeling. Sometimes just having someone to talk to helps you work through your feelings.

TIP: The best tip I can give you

Is to pray! Pray before you do anything. Pray as soon as you realize there is a problem. Pray every step of the way.. We will be discussing prayer in greater detail in our next episode.

Overcoming fear and anxiety will not only help you share your testimony more effectively, it will give you the ‘spare capacity’ in life to focus on what God wants you to be and do. It takes effort, but imagine the rewards.

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