Sadie Robertson Chronicles Her Journey to Peace in ‘Live Fearless’

Sadie Robertson has made a habit out of confronting aspects of life that scare her. After years of living plagued by fear and anxiety, the TV star and motivational speaker has learned to conquer these obstacles and is helping others do the same with her new book, Live Fearless: A Call to Power, Passion, and Purpose.

While starring alongside her family on Duck Dynasty and dancing her way to second place on Dancing With the Stars in 2014, fans may not have realized that the young star with a bright smile was battling fear, anxiety and panic attacks behind-the-scenes during some of the most public moments of her life. “It’s not even that people really knew I was afraid, they just thought I was quiet or shy and it’s really not the case, it’s that I was always so afraid,” she tells Sounds Like Nashville. “Off the screen in my personal life, I was working on finding freedom and really working on conquering fear and all of a sudden, I did. I became so free.”

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Robertson chronicles this journey to tranquility in Live Fearless, opening her heart while reliving some of her most personal and painful experiences with anxiety. She shares the defining story of when she realized her anxiety was all-consuming, convincing herself the plane she was on was destined to crash, leading to a severe panic attack that forced her to deboard before take-off. “In that moment I was like ‘This is causing so many problems in my life. It is really putting me back,’” she recalls. “The chain reaction I’m giving off in the world is fear. I did not want to be a part of that.”

It was this wake-up call that inspired the vibrant star to actively search for inner peace, turning to her family and faith for guidance. An important part of this journey is detailed in chapter two where Robertson discusses the positive influence of her mother and brother and the inspiring words her mom said that helped change her mentality – and her life. “She would always challenge me to do things afraid. She was always like ‘Even though it’s scary, just do it,’” Robertson explains of how she championed fearful thoughts. “I didn’t get it until I started doing it afraid because what I realized is the place fear was, was always the place that fear was defeated. That was a really significant thing for me.”

The word “fearless” holds special resonance in Robertson’s life, taking on a new meaning as she’s learned not only to overcome fear, but face it head on and gain personal growth in the process. “I think that being fearless is actually being the peace in the fearful situation,” she reveals. “It’s not that you’re not going to walk into things that aren’t scary, you do walk into the things that are the scariest, but you bring peace because you are so confident in the freedom you found.”

Reliving these tough memories while writing the book helped Robertson cope with the past and move on to a more clear-minded future, using the art of writing to travel through dark experiences and help pinpoint where the fear was coming from. The multi-talented artist hopes that readers will see their own reflection in her story of triumph and become active in changing their reality. That’s why she’s included a place in the book where fans can write down their own thoughts and struggles as a way to heal. “All of these people who have followed me for three years are now seeing me become this new person and they’re like ‘How did you find that freedom?’ ‘How do you have that joy?’ ‘How do you have that peace?’” she says. “I really do believe that people reading my story, they’re going to be able to see it and be like ‘How can I tangibly do that in my life?’ ‘What does that look like for me?’ I don’t just want to tell people my story, I want to really pull people out of theirs.”

Live Fearless is available now.