How These 3 Fears Will Stop You From Following Your Dreams

Fear Is a Story You Tell Yourself. Here’s How to Write a Better One

Let’s be honest, fear can be a real dream-killer. It’s that nagging voice that whispers “what if?” until you’re too paralysed to move. But here’s the good news: if you’re really good at imagining worst-case scenarios, it means you have a powerful imagination. Congrats! 🥳 You’re basically a movie director in your own mind. The only problem is, you’ve been directing horror films when you could be making blockbusters.

If you’re constantly on red alert—scared of a new relationship, a new job, or chasing that big dream because you don’t feel worthy—it’s time to fire the horror director and take the chair yourself. Your body and mind can’t live in a state of high alert forever. It’s exhausting! It’s time to change the script.

The Reality of Your Fear Movie

Anxiety is just your unconscious mind’s way of telling you that you’re focusing on the wrong movie. You’re giving an Oscar-worthy performance in a film called Everything That Could Possibly Go Wrong. Instead of letting that energy go to waste, why not channel it into what you do want?

When life throws a plot twist at you and the fear monster makes its grand entrance, the script usually sounds something like this:

• Fear of Loss: “If I lose my job, I’ll have no other skills.”
• Fear of Disappointment: “I can’t rely on anyone; they always let me down.”
• Fear of Uncertainty: “I’ve never done this before. I have no idea what I’m doing.”
• Fear of Self-Judgment: “I could never do that. I’m not smart enough, good enough, or worthy enough.”

Recognise any of those lines? Sometimes, the bravest thing you can do is feel the fear and do it anyway.

Are You Secretly in Love with Your Problem?

On the flip side, some of us become a little too comfortable with our problems. We secretly love them. They’re familiar. We dream of a different life, but we don’t really believe we can have it, so we retreat to the comfort of our “issue.”

These people often use victim language. It sounds like: “It’s so hard,” “It’s not my fault,” or “That person made me feel this way.”

This language keeps you stuck. The good news is, you can make a choice to use power language instead. Swapping “I’m trying” for “I am doing” or “I can’t” for “I can” isn’t just a word game—it’s a command to your brain that you’re taking back control. As Linda McCall says, “A problem is only a problem if you make it a problem… The problem ceases to exist when we focus on solutions.”

Let’s Talk About Hypnosis (No, You Won’t Cluck Like a Chicken 🐔)

So, how do we start focusing on solutions? One powerful tool is hypnosis.

Now, let’s clear the air. When someone asks a hypnotherapist, “Can you make me act like a chicken?” the short answer is no… not unless a part of you secretly wants to. Your unconscious mind has a sense of humour, but it’s also there to protect you.

The biggest secret about hypnosis is this: all hypnosis is self-hypnosis. A therapist can’t make you do anything. They are simply a guide. Think of them as a GPS for your mind; they can give you directions, but you’re the one who has to drive the car.

That deeply relaxed, floaty feeling of hypnosis? That’s you giving yourself permission to let go. It’s that wonderful state right before you fall asleep or just as you’re waking up, where you’re aware but completely at peace. You are always in total control.

You Are the Magic Trick

Hypnosis is only a magic trick when you make the magic. The change happens when you decide you’re ready. If a part of you is still in conflict (“Part of me wants to change, but the other part is scared”), you’ll self-sabotage the process. And that’s okay! It just means you have a little more exploring to do first.

Feeling hypnotised is simply an accelerated state of relaxation. We filter up to 400 million bits of information per second, and our beliefs and past experiences act as the bouncer at the door, deciding what gets in. Hypnosis helps you talk directly to the bouncer.

If you want to have good communication with your unconscious mind, all you have to do is to allow your mind to take suggestion to the body in a positive and uplifting way. By doing this you are actively changing the coding of the mind.

The therapist is your guide, but you are the self-healer. Your success depends on your willingness to trust yourself and the process. You can do this process with a trained NLP master practitioner, but remember you are the therapist and the therapist is your guide. You are the one who allows the suggestion to take place.

Final thoughts & why it matters

Ultimately, you are the powerful one, you are what matters. You have the ability to heal yourself, unseat old beliefs, and rewrite your story from a drama into an adventure. All you have to do is decide you’re ready to pick up the pen.

By Linda A. McCall