[24] Fear Setting vs Goal Setting

One-Line Summary:

Really knowing your fear and its impact will make things clearer to have the courage to take action.

One Paragraph Summary:

“Your success depends on the number of courageous actions you take in life.” And what prevents us to take action? FEAR. Fear of the unknown, fear of losing our comfort, fear of rejection, etc. This makes us procrastinate and live in our “fantasy safe bubble”, for now... This in the long term has its impact and will never let us live a fulfilling life with enthusiasm and passion. That′s why it is important to really understand our fears and objectively analyze them. Fear setting can help us do that (Ferriss, 2017b).

Newsletter:

“Your success depends on the number of courageous actions you take in life.” - Yoshi Garnica

In his Ted Talk, Tim Ferris (Ferriss, 2017a), presents how the “fear-setting” exercise has produced his biggest business and personal successes, as well as helped him to avoid catastrophic mistakes.

Our mind is designed to exaggerate and dramatize what can go wrong, and thanks to that we are alive today ??. Its job is to keep us safe and not take unnecessary risks that could harm our comfort.

That′s why is so hard to change… Because this resistance, this fear, is real!

However, as we know, these risks are now not life-threatening anymore, and what is important nowadays to most, is to thrive, to be really ourselves and live a meaningful life.

And thanks to globalization and technology, we are in the most privileged era to achieve that.

We just want to really understand how our mind works and put things in perspective so we can assess objectively our options, with their risks and benefits.

That′s where fear setting comes in.

“Named must your fear be before banish it you can.” — Yoda

The Fear Setting Exercise (Ferriss, 2017b):

1. DEFINE your nightmare, the absolute worst that could happen if you did what you are considering. What doubt, fears, and “what-ifs” pop up as you consider the big changes you can—or need—to make? Would it be the end of your life? What would be the impact on a scale of 1–10? Are these things permanent? How likely do you think it is that they would actually happen (i.e. probability)?
2. PREVENT. List ways you could reduce the likelihood of each of the worst-case scenarios from happening.
3. REPAIR. What steps could you take to repair the damage or get things back on the upswing, even if temporarily? How could you get things back under control?
4. BENEFITS. What are the more probable or definite positive outcomes, whether internal (confidence, self-esteem, etc.) or external? What would the impact of these more likely outcomes be on a scale of 1–10? How likely is it that you could produce at least a moderately good outcome?
5. INACTION DANGERS??. What is it costing you, financially, emotionally, physically and spiritually to postpone action? It is equally important to measure the atrocious cost of inaction (opportunity cost). If you don’t pursue those things that excite you, where will you be in one year, five years, and ten years? How will you feel having allowed circumstance to impose itself upon you and having allowed ten more years of your finite life to pass doing what you know will not fulfill you? If you telescope out 10 years and know with 100% certainty that it is a path of disappointment and regret, and if we define Risk as “the likelihood of an irreversible negative outcome”.

Inaction is the greatest risk of all - (Ferriss, 2017b)

Example: If you were fired from your job today, what would you do to get things under financial control? Imagine this scenario and run through questions 1–3 above. If you quit your job to test other options, how could you later get back on the same career track if you absolutely had to?

What are you putting off out of fear? Usually, “what we most fear doing is what we most need to do” (Ferriss, 2017b). It is fear of unknown outcomes that prevents us from doing what we need to do. Define the worst case, accept it, and do it.

What are you waiting for? If you cannot answer this without resorting to the previously rejected concept of good timing, the answer is simple: You’re afraid, just like the rest of the world.

“The best time to start was yesterday. The next best time is now.” – Unknown

Measure the cost of inaction, realize the unlikelihood and repairability of most missteps, and develop the most important habit of those who excel and enjoy doing so: ACTION!?

References and/or Recommended Resources:

• Ferriss, T. (2017a). Why you should define your fears instead of your goals | TED Talk. https://www.ted.com/talks/tim_ferriss_why_you_should_define_your_fears_instead_of_your_goals
• Ferriss, T. (2017b, May 16). Fear-Setting: The Most Valuable Exercise I Do Every Month. The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss. https://tim.blog/2017/05/15/fear-setting/
• Ragland, M. (Director). (2019, March 18). Forget Goal Setting → Do This Instead. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvrLAQ8FWnE