How To Lose The Fear Of Making A Fool Of Yourself: 8 Key Tips
Fear is a natural feeling, and it does not always play a negative role in our lives. In fact, it can protect us from situations that are dangerous for us, or that are considered to be associated with a risk. But it can become a problem when the feeling of fear is intense and limiting.
Next we are going to see how to lose the fear of making a fool of ourselves taking into account that the perceptions that trigger this thought do not always correspond to reality: we are not exposed to public ridicule at all times.
How to lose the fear of making a fool of yourself in front of others
Some people who have problems with the fear of making themselves look ridiculous in front of others have developed a disorder known as social phobia ; In these cases, the anxiety they suffer is extreme and prevents them from living normally, so it is necessary that they go to a psychologist to overcome this (luckily, phobias generally respond very well to treatment, and fade away after a few months). if professional help is available). However, in most cases, these “nerves” linked to social interactions do not become psychopathologies, and although going to therapy helps, in situations like this it is not essential to go to therapy and it is enough to adopt certain strategies and habits to gain ease when socializing.
In this sense, below we are going to explain how to lose the fear of making a fool of yourself, through a series of simple tips, so that you can strengthen your security.
If you are able to remove from your mind the mistaken idea that others are more prepared than you, you will begin to function better in any situation. Just like you, other people must also go through a learning process, and even then they are not free from making a mistake.
So, what we must do is trust in our abilities and not be afraid of being exposed or criticized by others. Maybe the ones who make the mistake are the others, and you have the opportunity to make them see their mistake (always with a cordial but assertive attitude). Or maybe they are right in their criticism, and you learn from them.
2. Face your traumas
Past traumas represent one of the main sources of insecurity in people. Many times we are not able to face what hurt us and we live limited by the fear of reliving those circumstances again.
To take that weight off our shoulders, it is necessary to do a personal recognition exercise and stop at those thoughts that are unpleasant to us. Instead of avoiding, let’s take a closer look at how we can stop these circumstances from affecting our lives. Avoiding exposing yourself completely to certain situations only fuels the complexes.
3. Learn to laugh at yourself
Not all things that make us uncomfortable have to be a drama. In fact, If instead of being uncomfortable you manage to see your situation as something funny, the unpleasant feeling will begin to dissipate
By this I do not mean that you go around laughing at everything negative that happens to you, but that if we change the perspective with which we see things, we will be able to experience less discomfort and we will be able to have a better mood in the face of adversity.
By taking things with a sense of humor, tension goes down and everyone around you relaxes. With this attitude you will be able to show that you are not a ridiculous person, but someone who knows how to take the tension out of things which is a fabulous virtue.
4. Train your security
Confidence, like most things, is an attitude that can be trained. The ideal is to find a controlled environment, where you have privacy and can imagine yourself in certain situations.
The idea is that you manage to master these scenarios from practice, rehearsing how you will do it When the moment comes. It doesn’t have to be an important presentation, it can be something from your everyday life. For example, if you plan to talk to your crush, you can rehearse in your safe place.
This method will work for you to acquire security and naturalness before facing a socially complex situation that makes us nervous. No need to memorize lines of dialogue but to gain ease and have several possibilities and your possible actions planned in each case.
5. Avoid prejudices
Prejudices are generalized thoughts from which the person is not able to evaluate situations beyond a pre-established conception. Furthermore, prejudice is characterized by being radical and exaggerated. When we think that we must please everyone to avoid falling into a certain type of pigeonholing, shyness and anxiety take over us.
We are afraid of making a fool of ourselves in an attempt to please someone, and this situation can generate a feeling of constant discomfort and uncertainty. You must be aware that You are not obliged to always please everyone and there is no need to feel bad about it.
6. Be vulnerable
Vulnerability does not imply weakness; In fact, if you have the ability to talk about the things that made you feel vulnerable at times, people will feel more confident with you and you will take the weight off your shoulders of having to seem like a perfect version of yourself.
Remember that In general, human beings tend to imitate the attitude of our interlocutors in the social interactions we have on a daily basis Just as if you show signs of discomfort in a conversation the other person will also feel uncomfortable, if you show confidence when expressing things that show your vulnerabilities or that reflect your honesty, the other person will also relax more and be more transparent. with you, less obsessed with social conventions.
7. Set goals
To overcome fears, The ideal is to start with small things Something that works quite well is to set daily goals and meet them, so that you can record your progress. As you progress in meeting these goals, you can set some more demanding ones.
For example, if we are afraid of making a fool of ourselves when talking to others; Our goal should be to start at least three conversations a day with strangers. Little by little you will see how You will gain confidence in yourself and your abilities to interact with others
8. Accept yourself
It’s about the acceptance we should have in ourselves, including the things we like and the things we don’t like. To the extent that you see yourself as a whole, you will learn to give value to every aspect of your person. Even your flaws are part of you, learn to live with them in harmony
