Fear—we’ve all felt it. Whether you’ve confronted it, avoided it, or ignored it in exchange for false comfort, it’s a fact of life. It comes in many forms, often jarring but sometimes subtle.
It affects your decisions, your perspectives, and ultimately, your personal growth. Understandably, many fail to process their fears, leaving them stuck and unable to achieve their goals.
Books About Fear
Plenty of books about fear have been published. They tackle the many fears, whether tangible or intangible, that humanity faces as well as the paths to conquering them.
1. The Gift of Fear by Gavin de Becker
Gavin de Becker, a security expert, considers fear as a gift that helps you avoid being hurt. It’s a survival mechanism stimulated by the potential threats around you. He talks about how you can trust your instincts, identify warning signs, and navigate these threats.
2. Feel Fear and Do It Anyway by Susan Jeffers
Fear is universal and rarely goes away. With the world being such a scary place, it’s difficult to manage your fears and still function well.
Drawing on personal anecdotes and scientific research, Dr. Jeffers encourages you to accept fear as a natural part of life. She offers practical strategies for acknowledging, confronting, and moving beyond your fears, whether personal or professional.
3. Fear: Essential Wisdom for Getting Through the Storm by Thich Nhat Hanh
Fear is a pervasive element that keeps you anxious about life, the world, and your future. When uncontested, it leaves you without room for understanding and compassion, leaving you miserable even when surrounded by sources of happiness.
Buddhist Thich Nhat Hanh explores the origins of fear and the paths you can take to move past it.
4. The Big Leap by Gay Hendricks
While fear is persistent, happiness doesn’t seem to last that long. The moment something bad happens, it’s like nothing good has happened at all.
Gay Hendricks explores this problem and the effects of your hidden fears and false beliefs. He also shares useful tips on how you can reach your true potential despite the many obstacles on the way.
5. Daring Greatly by Brené Brown
Too often do you think that vulnerability is a weakness. As a result, you fear to dare, take risks, and experience the uncertainties of life.
Brené Brown dispels this cultural myth, arguing that vulnerability might just be where your courage is tested. Here, she talks about being your authentic self and finding the courage to overcome your fears.
6. Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard by Chip Heath and Dan Heath
Change is hard and often leads to some form of self-sabotage. Your rational mind wants to be healthier, but all your emotional mind wants is to laze about.
This conflict results in a lot of fears and doubts that can easily doom your transformation into someone better. Here, the Heaths demonstrate that successful changes follow a pattern that you can follow in your journey of self-love and growth.
7. Professional Troublemaker: The Fear-Fighter Manual by Luvvie Ajayi Jones
You’ll often find yourself afraid of being too different, of leaving your comfort zone for the unknown, and of your wants and needs being rejected. So you silence your voice and force yourself to be content despite having goals.
Luvvie Ajayi Jones teaches you how to be a force for positive change. From anecdotes to practical advice, this book acts as a guide to becoming a troublemaker: someone who doesn’t let fear control them in doing what needs to be done or becoming the person they want to be.
8. The Confidence Gap A Guide to Overcoming Fear and Self-Doubt by Russ Harris
You lose plenty of opportunities because you fear failure, are shy, or lack self-confidence. In these types of situations, you feel helpless in the face of your challenges.
Russ Harris has a simple solution: don’t get over your fears, make better friends with them instead. Using Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, he talks you through techniques for building confidence, handling negativity, and identifying your core values to set about growth.
9. The Power of Your Subconscious Mind by Joseph Murphy
You are not aware of it, but your subconscious mind shapes your thoughts, actions, and behaviors. However, it doesn’t always lead you to the best path and can be influenced by negative emotions and thoughts that dominate your conscious mind.
Joseph Murphy emphasizes the power of positive thinking, visualization, affirmation, and faith when it comes to overcoming fear and harnessing the potential of your subconscious.
10. Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari
Yuval Noah Harari uses history and science to understand what it means to be human, our evolution, and our future. Although not exclusively focused on fear, he investigates its significant role in shaping societies and cultures throughout history.
Overcoming Fear
People deal with fear in different ways. Some wait it out, others turn to drastic methods, and a few prefer a consistent and positive transformation within themselves.
Sometimes you might not even be aware of what you’re afraid of. Whatever the case, it affects everyone the same way—preventing you from living the life you deserve and desire.
It might take you years to overcome yours while others only need months. That doesn’t mean you are weak though. You’re simply on a different path than them and might need a different way to deal with your fear.
What are your favorite books about fear? Share them in the comments below!
If you enjoyed this post, then you might also like:
- How to Be Brave: 6 Tips for Embracing Fear and Living the Life of Your Dreams
- 10 Books about Jealousy and How to Overcome It
- 11 Books about Letting Go and Moving On
Cole is a blog writer and aspiring novelist. He has a degree in Communications and is an advocate of media and information literacy and responsible media practices. Aside from his interest in technology, crafts, and food, he’s also your typical science fiction and fantasy junkie, spending most of his free time reading through an ever-growing to-be-read list. It’s either that or procrastinating over actually writing his book. Wish him luck!
