Every single day we face moments that are difficult, uncertain, and scary. Most of the time we just think about our ideas and don’t find enough courage to share them, act on them and pursue them. Sometimes thinking too much about our problems magnifies them which induces anxiety.

A lot of our success in life is determined by our ability to do something that is difficult or scary, step outside our comfort zone, share our ideas, stand firm in our beliefs, and just show up. We must trust our instincts and refrain from overthinking things to eliminate fear.

Life is already hard and we make it even harder when we listen to our fears, convince ourselves to wait and we hold our greatest selves back. Due to fear of rejection, and failure. Here, I'll recommend five books to help you deal with fear and the anxiety that comes with it.

1. Can't Hurt Me by David Goggins

This book is about embracing pain whether it’s physical, mental, or emotional. It's about the astonishing journey Goggins went through from being morbidly obese to graduating the U.S. armed forces and Navy SEAL training.

He shared every insight that he learned during his journey. He shares how to train your mind, build mental strength, and outlines various exercises to do so such as The 40% rule, the cookie jar method, and the accountability mirror technique. I highly recommend this book.

2. The Kaizen Way by Robert Maurer

When fear of change takes hold of our brain, it can prevent creativity, rational thought, and success. Our big bold efforts to make a change can create even bigger obstacles in our minds to resist the very change we are looking for.

This book introduces the concept of “Kaizen”. It’s an effective, enjoyable way to achieve a specific goal by

1. Asking small questions.

2. Thinking small thoughts.

3. Taking small actions.

4. Solving small problems.

5. Bestowing small rewards to yourself.

Our brain is programmed to resist change, but by taking small steps we effectively rewire our brain. These small actions take very little time or money and require minimum reverses of our willpower. This book neutralizes the fear of big bold actions quite effectively.

3. The Obstacle Is The Way by Ryan Holiday

This book is written with the goal of overcoming obstacles, they can be in any form or size, be it physical, mental, or emotional. It is not about seeing the bright side, but more about turning every obstacle into an advantage.

This book is full of historical examples of people who overcame hardship to achieve greatness and goes beyond the philosophy of stoicism simply by making it actionable. This book just fills you with hope and gives you a different perspective on the way you approach to fear.