Use fear to your advantage
24 November 2007When fear is advantageous
Fear is an emotion that is experienced in anticipation of a possible event that may have an unknown or undesirable outcome.
Why does fear exist? From an evolutionary perspective, it makes sense. When we were caveman, it was good that we were afraid of our predators. Our dumb cousin that wasn’t afraid of the bear didn’t live long enough to pass his genes along. On the same note, it is good that we are afraid of heights, or afraid to walk along the edge of a cliff. Fear is our body’s way of telling us to be careful — there may be danger ahead.
Fear is there for a reason, and should be listened to.
Fear is necessary for avoiding primal danger. Our ancestors undoubtedly benefited from fear. Fear is also a very strong emotion, relative to the others. It needs to be, because it must override other emotions.
When fear works against us
Fear is a primal, survival instinct. It’s there to help us survive. We don’t have to worry about predators anymore. In our modern day world, fear holds us back from success, because fear overrides our willingness to take risks. In business, people who listen too much to fear are doomed for failure, even if it’s through stagnation.
All of us have faced a major decision in our life, where we had the safe route, or the risky, but rewarding route. And we all have at least once taken the safe route, looked back with regret, saying "I wish I would have…" or "If I only knew then what I know now…"
How to use fear to your advantage
Once you’ve identified that you are afraid, that is a great first step, because you can confront the fear and deal with it.
The best way to overcome fear is to accept the worst-case scenario.
Fear cannot exist unless there is unknown. Remember, fear is an emotion that deals with what might happen. You don’t get scared watching a horror movie more than a few times. Why? Because you’ve removed the scary part — the unknown, the tension of what might happen. If you can go into a situation knowing that all possible outcomes are in your favor, there is nothing to be afraid of. Here’s how:
- Take some time, do some planning. Think through what might happen.
- Ask yourself the dreaded question:
What is the worst that can happen?
If your answer to this question is ruinous, then stop. Stop right there. Fear did it’s job, and saved you from a potentially bad situation. Whew. Say thank you to your smart great ancestor that ran away from the bear.
Now, if it’s a worthwhile goal, you probably don’t want to give up that easily. So do some more planning, and try to address the worst case scenario with a contingency plan. Go back to step #1, and then see if you were able to create a back up plan that made your worst case scenario not as bad.
Keep repeating this process, and as you continue to address worst case scenarios with proper planning, you will magically find that you are no longer afraid of the situation.
I’ve committed myself to not making any [more] decisions based on fear. Proper management and planning make every situation possible. Instead of allowing fear to paralyze us and impede our success, use fear wisely to force yourself to build contingency plans for every imaginable outcome. Flex your universe, and make the worst case scenario palatable and you will no longer be afraid.
