How to Overcome Fear:
A Wake Up Eager Motivation
in the Workplace Interview
I am pleased to present this How to Overcome Fear online interview with Author and Psychologist Brenda Shoshanna, PhD. Suzie: Dr. Brenda Shoshanna, thank you for taking time to share your insights around the topic of how to overcome fear. First, please tell folks what you’re passionate about in your work, along with what you do and why you do it. Dr. Brenda Shoshanna: I am a psychologist, author, speaker and workshop leader who loves helping others release their fears, build fearless relationships and become able to live life to the brim. I'm passionate about sharing the beauty of life and how easy it is to feel joy and love when you simply learn to clear away the thunderclouds in your life that hide the sun.
Suzie: That's wonderful. So we can all know more about you personally, outside of your helping others learn how to overcome fear, tell us about a hobby or interest that you have, outside of work. Dr. Brenda Shoshanna: I love theater and have been a playwright and actor for many years. I was playwright in residence at two NY theaters and have had the joy of seeing many of my plays go on. I harbor a secret wish to start my own theater where we go into communities and perform right in the neighborhood. I believe strongly in the power of theater to heal, connect and bring understanding, and I apply some of these principles in my work as a therapist and workshop leader as well. How to Overcome Fear:
"It is very important to realize that fear is simply a feeling, it's a toxic energy that invades your being and undermines all aspects of your life.
When you run away from fear by suppressing it, working too hard, seeking solace in relationships, drinking, or any other way -
it only grows stronger."
---Brenda Shoshanna, PhD
Suzie: Tell us, why did you write Fearless: 7 Principles for Peace of Mind? What prompted you to become an expert in this area of how to overcome fear? Dr. Brenda Shoshanna: After many years of working with clients, I realized that many individuals who were so bright and gifted were suffering so much and had unnecessary limitations, due to the presence of fear.
It seemed a wonderful idea to help identify and learn how to release the fear directly, so that their natural abilities and strengths could surface naturally.
> Suzie: What are the best tips you have for people who are stuck in fear right now? What specifically can they begin doing right now to feel better, enjoy life more and overcome their fears and anxiety? Dr. Brenda Shoshanna: There are many practices and exercises which help release fear right on the spot. To begin, it is very important to realize that fear is simply a feeling, it's a toxic energy that invades your being and undermines all aspects of your life. When you run away from fear by suppressing it, working too hard, seeking solace in relationships, drinking, or any other way - it only grows stronger. However, when you turn around and face your fear, when you stop, and feel the feeling fully, then you can easily let the feeling go. Like any bully, when you turn around and face it head on, it weakens and melts away. When you run from something you give it power and strengthen it. By no longer resisting the fear, it weakens. Then you simply ask yourself, could you let it go? You can and it is easy to do. Once you realize that fear is only a feeling, you realize that you are senior to the fear and have the power to either hold onto it, or simply open your hands, heart and mind and let it go. I want to add here that there is a difference between healthy, natural fear we feel when we're actually in danger. Then, we feel the sting of fear and can respond appropriately to what's going on. However, the fear most of us are caught in, is the kind that lingers long after danger is gone... It causes obsessions, catastrophic expectations and paralysis. This kind of fear actually makes us less safe as it confuses our mind.
Seven Principles of Peace of Mind:
1)The Courage to Be whoYou Are
2) Letting Go of Attachment and Grasping
3)Recognizing the Voices Within
4)Finding a Safe Harbor
5)Blessing Others:Deeds of Love
6) Letting Go of Control and Demand
7)Discovering Your Perfect Nature:Becoming a Friend
---from the book: Fearless Author, Brenda Shoshanna, PhD, & how to overcome fear expert
Suzie: At Wake Up Eager we have 10 Wake Up Eager Mindset Essentials, Which is your #1 for helping us all know how to overcome fear? Would you add anything to our list? - Waking Up Eager IS Possible for Me...and Not 'Pollyanna'
- Unwavering Focus.
- Every Moment Brings an Opportunity to Make More Decisions.
- My Happiness is My Job.
- I Am Always Guided and Never Alone.
- Never Done.
- Declare and Share My Strengths.
- Seek to Close Gaps.
- Earnestly Share Appreciation..
- Timeless Truth: I Can, Be, Do or Have Anything I Want.
Dr. Brenda Shoshanna: For me both #4 and #5 are my #1. They are two parts of the same hand. My happiness is my job. I wouldn't call it a job exactly, I would call it my privilege. When I take responsibility for my own happiness, stop making demands of others, let go of blame and endless expectations, and pay attention to my own state of mind then my own connection to source, to natural happiness and guidance is present. So, it's an interesting paradox, my happiness is my responsibility and when I take that attitude, I am guided, instructed and accompanied by a higher source of wisdom and well being for all.
Suzie: What do you think is the thing that most gets in the way of people from waking up eager more often? Dr. Brenda Shoshanna: I think people don't wake up eager more often because they are loaded down with fear and with the sense that they can't win or succeed, no matter how hard they try. They don't know how to overcome fear. They are constantly judging, comparing and measuring themselves against all kinds of overwhelming and false expectations. When they simply learn to be in the moment fully, do their best, at whatever they're doing, and stop worrying about outcomes, stop measuring and comparing, they will find joy in just what they do. Then the part of themselves that is naturally excited and joyous and that is filled with resources of all kinds will bubble up.
I do a workshop called The Disowned Self (Welcoming Her/Him Home): The Courage to Be Who You Are. This workshop deals with this exactly - an important part of how to overcome fear - with welcoming the parts of ourselves that we have disowned, repressed, rejected back home. These are the parts that are filled with excitement and happiness and delight at simply being alive, and can wake us up eager each day.
"No matter what hardships come into your life, no matter what turn events take, if you have yourself, you also have the natural ability to handle whatever comes along.
There are tremendous gifts and inner resources available when you have the courage to be who you are."
---Page 23, Fearless by Brenda Shoshanna, PhD, how to overcome fear expert Suzie: What things do you personally do to wake up eager and stay energized, focused and interested in your work? Dr. Brenda Shoshanna: I have been a Zen practitioner for many, many years, and even have a little Zen center in my home, where we sit together weekly and do some longer retreats. I wake up every morning, have breakfast and do zazen. Zazen meditation clears the mind, opens the heart and brings the unique capacity to 'be with' whatever comes along in a welcoming, non-judgmental way. It also brings all kinds of insights just when you expect it least. When I sit, it is as though I am adjusting the filter on the camera of my mind, from cloudy, foggy, or turbulent, to bright, clear and open. When I look at life through a clear, bright filter, everything shines.
Suzie: Let's let people know how they can contact you...and how to find your new book and your How to Overcome Fear workshops. Dr. Brenda Shoshanna: Fearless: The 7 Principles of Peace of Mind is available at all bookstores and on amazon.com, and on online. People can learn more about me at my how to overcome fear, become fearless website, http://www.becomefearless.org and contact me directly through my email at topspeaker@yahoo.com. My blog is http://practicefearlessness.blogspot.com You can also connect with me on Facebook and Twitter.
Suzie: Dr. Brenda Shoshanna, Thank you for sharing with us here. And Wake Up Eager Community Friends - if fear is holding you back go to Brenda's blog and get her book. Both are chock-full of meaningful ideas, insights and exercises to help you be, do and have everything you want - don't let fear stop you!
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