The forthcoming event – meeting with the chief, exam, starting a new project, a wedding – everyone has his own version of the unknown situation, which can cause serious fear.
Such anticipation is less painful for people with strong nervous system, but for most people it can cause a change in appetite, sleep disorders, confusion, agitation, etc.
How to cope with fear of the unknown
So, how to overcome fear of the unknown? There are several simple and effective techniques to avoid this unpleasant feeling.
A sober assessment. First you need to soberly assess the situation and all possible problems – fear often is exaggerated. You wouldn’t cancel the wedding because of a disappointing statistic of divorces, would you?
Familiar situation. The familiar situation can cause a feeling of stability and confidence. And this technique is based on this rule. You need several times to comprehend an upcoming event, imagine the unknown situation without exaggeration. By doing this you’ll get used to the unknown and will cope with your fear.
Pleasant memories. You remember the situation of success when you coped easily with the difficulties, successfully solved some problems. Analyze your success in detail, reproduce in your memory pleasant details and forget about your fear.
Your failures. Yes, your previous failures can help you to cope with fear of the unknown. You should analyze also your failures as it will help you to understand what you did wrong and how to change it.
Get ready to failures. Certainly you should believe in your strengths and hope that everything will be OK, but you should also be ready to fail. But don’t fall into despair, simply don’t forget about the possibility that you will fail.
But remember that here it’s very important to soberly assess the situation and your possibility to fail. FORGET about panics, it won’t help you at all.
Being a total optimist. This method is opposite to the previous one. You should convince yourself that everything will be OK, that you’ll cope with any fears and problems despite anything.
Try to overcome yourself, accumulate confidence. This experience will help to cope with fear of the unknown and you’ll get ready for future events with minimal losses. Good luck!
And what are your methods of overcoming fear of the unknown?
Roman Soluk is the founder and editor of Optimistic Life and Optimistic Life: Healthy Living. Find out more about him 
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Being a total optimist. This is what I am always do!
In other ways, I always stay at the positive zone. I always think everything gonna be fine and always believes there will be a solution for a problem. An old Chinese saying, “There’s A Thousand Solution For A One Problem”. I learned about this recently, very positively indeed!
Cheers,
Dennis.
Hi Dennis,
It’s great to see another optimist here as this is exactly the place for positive people.
Thanks a lot for your comment! I really appreciate it.