From Fear to Fulfillment. From Crisis to Confidence.: Your Personal Evolution Journey

By Terri Mitchell

If you have ever been held back by Fear, this book is for you. It will help you to understand your fears and guide you through on your journey to Fulfillment.

If you have faced Crisis and found yourself struggling, this book holds within its pages a wealth of valuable information, about h

• Language: English
• Publisher: Terri Mitchell
• Release date: Jul 18, 2021
• ISBN: 9781922629463

Terri Mitchell

Terri wrote the first draft of Legacies after completing a short Creative Writing course while living in Sydney Australia. She has also written six other diverse and engaging books, ranging in topics from Fear and Motivation to health and nutrition. Prior to this, Terri trained as a Psychiatric Nurse, which amplified her already growing fascination with the human mind, psychology, and social conditioning, fuelled by surviving her traumatic childhood. She has walked Hot Coals, completed the International Money and You program in San Diego, been an international summit guest speaker, and is currently writing her next novel, the first in a Private Investigator series. Terri founded The Speakers Initiates, an Emerging Speaker platform, helping people to find their voice. She is also the founder of Voice on Fire - Interviews with Intention, a unique YouTube Channel and Podcast focused on emerging Change Agents and Action Takers. Her global interviewees have included musicians, founders, coaches, authors, explorers, and advocates, all driven by similar motivations - to tap into Human Goodness and create positive global impact. Terri is an advocate for The Lilian Dibo Foundation in Cameroon, Africa, and currently lives in Melbourne, Australia, with her ginger cat, George Howard.

Book preview

I felt the timing of this book is perfect, especially with such an important focus on mental health and well-being. Not only does Terri provide an insightful overview of the different types of crisis so many people face, there are some very useful and actionable tips to manage fear and start shifting from crisis to confidence. I do recommend this book to anyone who is facing some personal challenges, or if you know someone who would benefit from some sage advice… want to say is how impressed with the style and language used. Very easy to read and understand. I am most impressed. I feel this will help a lot of people.

by Tim Conolan AM

2014 Australian of the Year, Founder of TLC for Kids

Copyright © 2021 by Terri Mitchell.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Disclaimer

The author makes no claim to provide binding professional or other advice within this book – the contents are the opinions, beliefs and interpretations of the author only. The author and publisher will not be held liable for any loss or damage, expressed or implied that occurs as a consequence of the use of this book.

This book is not intended as a substitute for the medical advice of physicians. Should you require any professional advice in relation to health matters please consult your own qualified professional health advisor.

Mitchell, Terri (author)

From Fear To Fulfillment. From Crisis To Confidence.

ISBN 978-1-922629-32-6

ISBN 978-1-922629-46-3 (e book)

Typeset Adobe Garamond Pro 10.5/15.5

Cover and book design by

Green Hill Publishing

This book is dedicated to

the promise of raising awareness,

of increasing analytical thinking,

and to giving hope to the hopeless,

worth to those who feel worthless,

and help to those who feel helpless.

It is for you, if you’ve ever

experienced fear

and want to live your life

with confidence.

Just know, you can do it.

CONTENTS

Preface

FEAR AND FULFILLMENT

Fear

Fear - innate and learned

Fear head space

Fear processing centres and interpretation

Fear – avoid or accept

Fear and emotional addiction

Fear – the different types

Fear, adrenalin and danger

Fear, peer pressure and submission

Fear, beliefs and decision-making

Fear and extreme decisions

Fear – evolution from prey to predator

Fear – your comfort zone and knowledge

Fear - blame, excuse, and accountability

Fear, cotton wool kids and adversity

Fear and the power of labels

Fear, risk and taking chances

Fulfillment

CRISIS AND CONFIDENCE

Crisis

Types and categories of crisis

The phases of crisis

Crisis – reaction and shock

Crisis and choice

Crisis and rehearsal

Crisis, opportunity and meaning

Crisis and the social fabric

Crisis and self-serving bias

Crisis and default mindset

Crisis and brain adaptability

Crisis and a traumatised brain

Crisis and post-traumatic stress

Crisis, and negativity versus toxicity

Crisis, and transition to confidence

Crisis and victim accountability

Crisis and my personal story

Confidence

Confidence – rebuilding, post-crisis

Rebuilding my broken confidence

From frightening moments to fulfilling memories

From critical situations to confident growth

FUTURE YOU

You – now and future

My story about my ‘future me’

Your ‘future you’

From fear and crisis

…to fulfilled and confident

RESOURCES

List of resources

Notes

Index

Acknowledgements

About the author

Preface

Fear is a fundamental and complex state

It happens in the brain, in the mind, and in the body.

Fear is an emotion experienced across species and around the world, as a survival mechanism. Feeling fear is natural.

The problem begins when fear dominates, when the fear reaction is greater than the event that triggered it, when the experience of fear causes prolonged stress, and when fear lingers long after the trigger has passed.

It is important to learn about your experience of fear, to understand how fear works in your brain and body, and what you can do to transition from fear to fulfillment.

Crises can impact you at any time

Crisis is not necessarily just the event or experience that happens around you but is also your reaction to the event or situation. There are many factors that play a part in the way you perceive a situation and react to it.

When you draw upon past learned behaviour (by conscious choice or unknowingly) to help you cope with and solve a current crisis and do not achieve a positive result or outcome, the crisis may escalate.

When your coping skills are tested and fail, your sense of self can falter.

When you discover new ways to cope, and develop greater skills and personal resources, you soon learn to adjust your perspective in response to critical events, emerging from the crisis into confidence.

Read on to find out more.

FEAR AND

FULFILLMENT

FEAR

Fear - innate and learned

Fear is a complex emotional state. There are innate fears (the ones you are born with) that govern your bodily responses for the sake of your survival. There are also learned fears, some of which are culturally beneficial and others which become extreme or disproportionate (where the feeling of fear is excessive compared to its cause).

Fear of falling, for example, is an innate fear. Along with fear of falling is fear of loud noises. Babies have an intrinsic ‘startle’ reflex, that typically only lasts a few months after birth. It is purported to be a survival reaction because when startled, a baby will clasp its fingers and appear to reach for, and grab hold of the mother or carer.

The learned fears are complicated and make sense in context. An example includes being taught to avoid snakes. Not all snakes are lethally poisonous. However, being taught to fear all snakes is a safeguard, to increase survival behaviour and reduce likelihood of death.

Another fear, of the dark, is more complex. It is present as both an inborn and a learned fear.

Some researchers¹ claim it is an historical or ancestral fear based on two factors. Firstly, humans have poor night vision, and secondly, predatory carnivorous animals tend to hunt at night. In this context, fear of the dark could be considered a survival mechanism to ensure your ancestors avoided potential death as prey. In current society, humans have become one of the dominant species, and our ancestral fear, though still present, is now more a learned response.

As an example of fear responses, think about a child who is afraid of the dark.

That child was me.

As a little girl, I was terrified of the darkness. My reaction was driven by several factors:

One factor was being told about the concept of the ‘boogieman’, the scary grey shadow-man who existed to purposefully scare little children.

I was also being subjected to dreadful acts of abuse which intensified all fears because I was always on high alert, terrified that the offenders would come into my room at night.

Additionally, there were occasions when, as a young child, I was left completely alone at night in a house with no parent, sibling, or caregiver present. I recall waking up in the middle of the night on one occasion, and the house was empty. My mother was at work, and my brothers did not want to be responsible for me because it meant missing out on being with their mates. They would simply wait till I was asleep and would leave me alone, vulnerable, at home with unlocked doors.

My fear of the dark was a culmination of issues that were very real and learned. The fear would show up, however, in two quite specific and less than logical expressions:

As a small child, I feared the dark. I really believed in the ‘boogiemen’, convinced they hid under my bed. I was also terrified of rats, believing they ran around my bedroom floor at night and would likely bite my feet if I stepped out of my bed.

My fear of rats in the dark was based on genuine experience. I lived in an old weatherboard house in a rural town. Large, galvanised, corrugated metal water tanks sat atop thick timber support beams. These were located at the back door. They provided water to the laundry and kitchen. I had once seen a rat outside the door under the tank stand. In my young mind, the rat was disproportionately large, and it cemented my fear that rats could easily enter the house from the back door, and scuttle throughout the house and across my bedroom floor. So, the potential for an actual rat in my bedroom was not out of the question.

These personal examples demonstrate that your fears, like mine, can be learned (something that is socially taught to you), and innate (something you are born with).

Fears – emotional response and reaction

Humans experience fear. Some people may have many fears. However, fear does not exist alone. It is part of a complicated network:

Fear not only feeds off these high-demand energy states, but it is also the fuel for them, too. Let’s explore each energy state, as part of the psycho-physiological reaction chain.

Fear is an innate mechanism to prevent you taking unnecessary risks that may cause death or harm.

Depression is a state of dark, deep sadness with feelings of hopelessness, pointlessness and lack of energy or motivation, typically triggered by past events. It can also occur alongside foreboding, intrusive worry, and fear of the future.

It may be a lasting, medically diagnosed condition, or it may be a short-term, situational response to a set of circumstances that have left you feeling worn down, despondent and without desire or will to participate in daily life.

Anxiety is similar to panic. It is often part of the panic reaction experience, and the feelings of anxiety differ for each person. Anxiety can feel like constant niggling caution, with physical symptoms such as shortness of breath and sighing.

There may be clammy, tingling, and prickling skin, agitation, or a feeling of ‘fidgeting’, with heartbeat beginning to race. These symptoms, though also associated with panic, have less of