My List of Frightening Behaviours

Hello, my dear readers! 

I`m here again to continue talking about stage fright and different ways to overcome this problem. If you also want to fight against your fears, here is an unusual and funny idea how to do it👇

If you have a strong fear of public speaking , you probably have some strong musts, like: "I must not make a fool of myself ", "I must not humiliate myself ", "I must always be approved of by anyone I talk to". So do I. I depend on public opinion a lot, because I have a low self-esteem. I`d like to change it as quickly as possible. To change these strong musts we have to do things which we find really  scary, embarrassing, and even stupid. By overcoming these little fears, one tends to realize that public`s opinion doesn`t have to be so important in our life. Moreover, people don`t think about us as much as we think they do. So, the first step is to make your own list of behaviours that you find the most frightening for you personally. Then you have to rate each behaviour according to how hard you think it will be for you. Put the list in order, starting with the easiest behaviour through the hardest. 

Here is my list of 10 Frightening Behaviours:

1. Telephone an organization and ask for some information. ✓

2. Come to the English Department in NSPU and initiate a conversation with a professor.✓

3. Pay by card in the shop.✓

4. Ask a shop assistant to show a number of items and give a piece of advice about them. Then leave the shop without buying anything.✓

5. Ask a person in the street for a mobile phone or some money.✓

6. Go to an expensive shop and try on some things or scan the items for a while. Refuse any help from the shop assistants and leave the shop without buying anything.✓

7. To shout "Bravo!" in the theatre.✓

8. Initiate a one-on-one conversation with your professor about something inconsequential.✓

9. Go to a social event with a friend and initiate a conversation with one person you don`t know.✓

10. Remark on a person in his/her face if her/his public behavior is inappropriate and hurts you personally. ✓

Commit yourself to a schedule to complete these behaviours. I will do one task a week. It`s helpful to share what you`re planning with a friend, so that they can both support you and keep you accountable. I will do my tasks with the help of my friend Nastya. She will give her comments in my blog❤

By now I`m ready with the first task - to telephone an organization and ask for some information. For about 2 years ago it was absolutely impossible for me to make a phone call to some organization. I was too shy to do this. Now it`s more or less OK for me, but still it`s a kind of a mini-stressful situation, that`s why I placed it first in my list. I phoned to a flower shop, because I had to find some suitable flowers for the theme party which my friend Dasha and I organize every month. Nastya was watching me carefully)) In fact, I phoned to several shops to ask if they have blue hydrangeas in stock. It wasn`t very difficult for me, I got all the information which I needed. But each time I dialed the phone number, I felt a stirring of anxiety and uncertainty. At the same time I felt excitement and desire to do my best to accomplish my goal. And I coped with it, even though it was a bit scary. I suppose that during public speaking, we should feel the same mixture of anxiety, adrenaline and excitement. Our fear shouldn`t be stronger than our desire to win. That is the most important aim which I`d like to achieve.

I enjoyed doing the first task, we had a lot of fun! But I do understand that the next tasks will be more difficult and less amusing)) Would you like to join us? Let`s share our lists of fears and help each other to be better!
Thanks for reading this☺