Self-help, self development: Conquer fear

Most people have one or two things that they fear.
 
Take a minute and think about your greatest fears. What do you fear the most, what makes you shudder at the very thought of whatever it is you loathe and detest?
 
Is it:
Spiders;
Snakes;
Heights;
Confined Spaces;
Falling;
Brussell Sprouts.
 
And because it is your fear of a brussell sprout eating venomous spider, you can picture it in all its large, hairy glory can’t you?
 
Now hold that thought, just for a minute. Ok, now think of something that you really love to do, see or experience.
 
Do you enjoy:
Sky Diving;
Rock Climbing;
Keeping exotic pets or
Growing vegetables?
 
You see, to someone else, your brussell sprout eating venomous spider would be an object of fascination. And I must admit the thought of a furry arachnid chomping down on a bright green vegetable the size of a ping pong ball is an interesting one. But if you don’t like spiders or sprouts then you are in serious trouble. As you probably know, what one person may fear, another person may like and enjoy. I loathe snakes, whilst others have them for pets. Some people have a fear of heights, whilst other people climb rocks for fun. Others may have a fear of falling, yet other people may deliberately throw themselves out of airplanes usually with a parachute on their back so they can enjoy the thrill of flying. 

So it is with the many suggestions out there to beat the procrastination habit, give up smoking, how to lose weight and so on. What worked for one person, may or may not help you, after all the way you respond and react is different from everyone else. 

I bet you have at least one "self-help" book on your shelves you have sort of read, half filled in the blanks and then lost interest in when the plan you tried simply didn’t work. Why?
 
Because it is not YOUR plan. It is someone else’s plan. Do not think for a minute you have failed because you didn’t follow the instructions and work on the exercises for a certain period of time. There are lots of reasons why something’s work and something’s don’t.
 
So how does this help us? Do we need to buy yet another book on overcoming procrastination, or goal setting in order to find something that works for us? Well, that’s up to you. But if you already have one or two “self help” books, or motivational books on your shelves gathering dust, then you are half way there. In order to move forward, all you have to do is find them, re-read them, and then follow the instructions, suggestions and exercises. But there is one final step that you should also take. And that is, take what works for you and apply it, and then throw the rest away. Once you start applying those things that work, and discarding those things that don’t, you will quickly come to work out, that it is up to you to take responsibility for finding the pieces to your own personal puzzle. It is time to take responsibility for your own “self help” program.