if you are an introspective person, you will realize that you may have some of these fears and some of these fears can actually still exist. fears are inherently human but we have to be able to take these fears and transmute it into something healthy. sometimes your fears will feel like a boxing match but it’s important to work through them. anytime you might feel anxious, it could come from one of these 6 fears. 

1. poverty 

this can be from your upbringing if you’ve had humble beginnings. you always want to make sure you’re living comfortably and have freedom in this area of life. money provides freedom of not stressing about day to day life, paying rent, putting food on the table and other basic needs. 

2. criticism 

it’s natural to care what people think. but the fear of “looking dumb” or “being judged” can stop us from going with our gut and doing what we want. don’t try to fit into what other’s think of you, because then you end up not taking the first step toward what you want. it would be terrible to live a life based on other people’s judgements. 

3. ill health 

this is the worst thing but sometimes it can be a blessing because it can make you appreciate your life and appreciate the people around you. poor health can also help you improve your relationship with your body. 

4. loss of love

this can be in the form of a relationship breakup and can also apply to loss of friendship. in the loss of love scenario, try to be future oriented and know it is a temporary feeling. in the moment, it may be hard but after a couple of weeks or months, whatever the period is, it will pass with time and distance. it’s a process but we always end up picking ourselves back up. if this has happened to you and you look back to 1 year ago or when it happened, it doesn’t seem so bad, does it?  

ask yourself these questions: was this the right person for me? maybe you weren’t the right person for them. what can i learn about relationships going forward? what do i want from a relationship?  

5. old age

aging, a word that nobody really likes to hear. aging is something we think about especially since our social media consumption has increased. i know for us ladies this is something that we can struggle with. however, we should try to put the emphasis on internal beauty instead of external beauty. that is not to say you shouldn’t try to age gracefully. 

6. death

i’ll leave you with this from The Untethered Soul by Michael Singer. “The question is, are you going to wait until that last moment to let death be your teacher?” 

source: Think and Grow Rich (Hill, 1937)