Brain Hack: Steps to Identify your Fear Trigger
Posted on August 13, 2019 by Shannon Rollins, One of Thousands of Life Coaches on Noomii.
Feeling overwhelmed at the drop of a hat? Take these steps to identify when fear is rising in your body and what to do about it.
About 5 years ago, I took my dog out to the front yard so he could relieve himself. I decided to take him off his leash, which I quickly found was a huge mistake. It was pouring outside and he spotted a opossum in the yard next door. In the dark, pouring rain I saw my 10-pound dog jet towards a 20-something pound opossum and start wrestling with him. This was straight up WWE-style wrestling of Kevin Hart versus The Rock. I found myself sprinting to the other end of the yard to break up the animal fight. Following four baths and tons of frustration, it dawned on me that my dog is freaking confident for his size!
Recent research has revealed that dogs can experience emotion, but they only experience the emotions of a two or three year old. Let’s compare that to humans. As humans start to get older and their brain starts experiencing more complex emotions, like guilt or shame, it becomes much more difficult to chase the opossum down because of fear.
Our brains were developed to protect us in any circumstance. When we experience fear, our brain becomes hijacked with a flood of hormones like cortisol, adrenaline, and norepinephrine. When this happens, it’s virtually impossible for our nerve impulses to send logical information to each other. This is why you might often experience a highly emotional response like extreme anger when someone cuts you off while driving or freezing during a well-practiced speech. The brain has an analysis period. The event currently happening is analyzed by your brain, then you compare the current experience to past experiences. Your brain is a statistician. If the statistics of that situation has failed you previously, then you automatically determine it as a threat.
Once you determine if it is a threat, it will initiate the fight or flight response. The fight or flight response is when you receive a flood of hormones that increase your blood pressure, heart rate, breathing rate, etc. The response varies for each individual depending on the circumstance. This is a big problem in many situations, especially the ones that matter. The fight or flight response will lead to cloudy thinking and hinder your ability to follow through with your coping strategy during fearful situations.
Additionally, if this response isn’t harnessed, it could cause significant levels of chronic stress. This in turn leads to long-term anxiety, depression, and failure to live your life to the fullest potential.
So I ask you… what is your coping strategy?
Do you turn red? Do you get teary-eyed? Do you avoid talking?
It’s important to identify what exactly happens so you can stop the trigger. Once you know what your coping strategy is, the next step is to investigate what caused the feeling. For example, is it a phrase that someone says? Is it a certain room at work? Is it a noise that you hear?
OR is it actually a positive response that you might mistake as negative.
The fight or flight response happens in positive emotional states like excitement and joy. You will feel the same physical feelings during excitement, arousal, and joy, which increases blood pressure, heart rate, etc.
The key is to identify the WHY behind your trigger and work through it.
Here are the steps:
STOP- Once you start feeling your “coping strategy” and your first pattern of fear, just stop.
ANALYZE- What is your normal response to a situation like this?
CHANGE- Do the opposite of what you normally do. What is plaguing you? Do you normally crawl into a shell? Make a conscious effort to do the exact opposite.
EXECUTE- Use the energy from your fear to give you a leg up. Let fear help you.
Mel Robbins explains this method wonderfully in her book “Take Control of Your Life” using the common catchphrase throughout the book, “FOLLOW YOUR FEAR.”
So I ask you to sit back and reflect on yourself and follow your fear.
A life coach in Orlando, FL can help you identify your fears and propel you forward into the things you want to do but are scared to do. Email me for a free consultation so we can talk about what is holding you back.
