What a Video Game taught me about Fear

Today at a glance:

• My unexpected fear while playing a video game.
• How I mitigated the fear making the experience more manageable and less scary.
• How you can also strategically control your fears, rather than facing it head-on immediately.

If anyone ever told me that an action game would scare me, I would have laughed it off.

It wasn’t because there weren't action games that could scare me, but rather because I avoided them.

Call me boring, but I don't play action horror games. I avoid Resident Evil, Dead Space, Alien, and the like.

It's not necessarily that I have a fear of confined spaces, but I hate playing games where a creature could pop out of nowhere in a confined space, forcing me into a frantic button-mashing emergency to survive. I like to see what's coming for me from afar.

Enter Days Gone

But here I am, playing Days Gone, a third-person game set in a post-apocalyptic world teeming with zombies.

Sure, zombies are scary, but I don't find them frightening if I can see them coming.

When I first saw the gameplay, I thought, “Okay, I can handle this. Zombies chase you, you kill them, voila.” It sounded simple enough.

However, this game turned out to be one of the scariest experiences I've ever had. Here’s why:

1. Zombified Wolves: I could be riding my bike in an open space and out of nowhere, a zombie wolf would knock me off. It’s startling and terrifying as hell.

2. The Soundtrack: The music in this game, especially when a horde of zombies is chasing you, is incredibly terrifying. The sounds the zombies make are creepy enough, but the soundtrack that accompanies a horde is pure horror. The combination is overwhelming.

The soundtrack is so effective that I immediately start looking around for the horde when it starts playing. They could be far away or dormant, but the music makes me feel like they're right behind me.

It was so traumatic that I stalled on my first mission to clear a horde. When I finally started the mission, it was the most terrifying experience ever. I had to pause because my heart was pounding too hard and fast. But I did finish it.

Here's the surprising part: the game scares me less now and it also taught me something about fear and how we confront it.

Usually, we’re told to face our fears head-on. I did, and the hordes still scared the crap out of me.

So what did I do? I removed the source of my fear: the sound.

By eliminating the terrifying soundtrack, I took control of the situation and made it manageable.

This isn’t to say that avoiding fear is always the solution, but sometimes, strategically mitigating what makes us afraid can be just as effective as facing it directly.

When I muted the sound, the hordes were still there, and the zombies still attacked, but the overwhelming sense of dread was significantly reduced.

Of course, removing the sound was a risky move, but without it, the game is less scary and I was able to focus on my strategy and execution without the distraction of the terrifying music. (I guess the game sound composer did a very good job.)

Managing Fear in Life

This experience taught me that confronting fear doesn’t always mean diving into it headfirst.

It can also mean finding ways to reduce its impact on us so we can function better and achieve our goals.

In life, just as in games, we have the power to control certain variables that make situations less daunting.

Fear is a natural response, but how we handle it can vary.

Sometimes, we need to face it directly, and other times, we need to take steps to lessen its grip on us. For me, muting the sound in Days Gone was a game-changer (pun intended). It helped me progress in the game and offered a valuable lesson in managing fear in real life.

So next time you’re faced with a fear that seems insurmountable, think about what you can adjust to make it more manageable. You might find that a small change can make a big difference.

Something for you to try out this week.

1. Identify a Fear: Think about something that scares you or makes you anxious. It could be public speaking, a difficult task at work, or anything else that you find daunting.

2. Analyze the Fear: Break down what specifically about this fear makes it so intimidating. Is it the uncertainty, the potential for failure, or something else?

3. Adjust the Variables: Think about what small changes you can make to reduce the impact of this fear. For instance, if public speaking scares you, could you practice in front of a mirror first? If a work task is overwhelming, could you break it down into smaller steps?

4. Implement the Change: Make the adjustment and confront your fear with this new approach. Notice how the change affects your experience.

5. Reflect: After facing your fear, reflect on the experience. Did the adjustment help? How did it change your perception of the fear?

Repeat this process with different fears and adjustments. Over time, you’ll develop a toolkit of strategies to manage and mitigate your fears effectively.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Remember, you've got this.

Salud.

In Case You Missed It:

Last week, I wrote about If You Can Iterate, You Will Be Better where you:

• Understand the power of iteration and how it can help you break free from stagnation.
• Discover practical steps to incorporate iteration into your personal and professional life.
• Learn to embrace a mindset of continuous improvement and growth.