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How to Overcome Your Fears with Fear-Setting
Is fear stopping you from the life you want? When you think of the things you want the most, do you have a bubble of anxiety around them? Fear is a vital survival emotion, but the fear that kept our ancestors safe from the wildebeests is not as relevant now that we live in industrialized societies. If the same hormones that kept our ancestors in one piece are holding you back, you have options! Tim Ferriss author of The 4-Hour Work Week, Tribe of Mentors, Tools of Titans, and The 4-Hour Body and podcast host uses what he calls fear-setting as a way to clarify anxious thoughts and take action in the face of fear.
To begin, get thee three pages and a pen.
Page 1: This is where you can “name it to tame it.” Define your fear. What if… Are you afraid to ask out a long-time friend, change careers, travel alone, go back to school? Whatever you’re afraid of, now is the time to put that fear on top of the page. I recommend horizontal orientation for this exercise. Now, make three columns. In the first column, define 10–20 of the worst things that could happen if you follow through with what you’re afraid of doing. So, for example, if you were afraid to ask out an old friend, some of…
