Fear can be used to both push people to action or dissuade them from doing something. It’s something politicians, researchers and patriarchs have known for ages. The research that has been done over the years involved contrived situations of smoke coming into a room, someone falling down onto a subway platform or even horses in a group. The undercurrent of fear was in each one of these and other social psychology scenarios and it illustrated how fear can cause action or keep you glued to your seat.

In addition to actions, fear has its buzzwords such as: layoffs, termination, economic crisis, foreclosure, terrorism and many others that you can think of on your own. The thing to do, however, is to allow yourself not to immediately let that adrenalin kick in and push you to rash into action.

When fear rears its ugly head:

1. Take time to pull back from the situation and delay immediate action – unless there’s an open artery involved.
2. Breathe! If you don’t know how to do relaxation breathing, go to my Self-help page
3. Try to be around people who are calm; it’s infectious in a good way
4. Sit down and ask yourself to look for the positive side in this or the solution that is currently not being seen. Reach out to others.
5. Let Scarlet O’Hara be your guide for a moment and remember that “tomorrow’s another day.” Even Annie knew that “the sun will come out tomorrow.”
6. Understand that FDR was right when he said, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” Don’t let it crush you in its grip.

Related Topics:

• WebMD Video: Dr. Farrell Demonstrates Deep Breathing
• Stress Relief and Relaxation