“The following six exercises will help you feel noticeably more powerful in the face of your fears:

1) List all the payoffs you get from staying stuck in some aspect of your life. What don’t you have to face? What don’t you have to face? What comfort do you get? What image do you get to hold on to? Be as honest with yourself as you possibly can. When you are aware of what you are doing, you will automatically discard a lot of your robot like behavior. You will lead yourself instead of being lead.

2) Be aware of the options you have during the course of a given day. When you are confronted with a different situation, sit down and write in a notebook al the possible ways you can act and feel about it. Each time you are upset, be conscious of the alternatives available to you.

3) Start noticing what you say in conversations with friends. See if it includes a lot of complaining about other people.

4) In a notebook, list the many choices available to you that can change presently upsetting experiences into positive ones. The key s not to blame others for being upset. This is not to condone the behavior of others, but simply not to allow it to be the source of your upset. In every situation, there are at least 30 ways to change your point of view.

5) Begin to look at the gifts you have received from what you have always looked at as a “bad” situation.

6) See if you can go one week without criticizing anyone or complaining about anything.” -From, “Feel The Fear and Do It Anyway” By: Susan Jeffers