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Brett and Kate McKay
1. Change your perspective on fear. Is the pain you experience while
working out a negative thing? Or is it just the feeling of your body
getting stronger? Fear is only a negative thing if you believe that it
is. You can choose to think about it simply as the “pain” your body
experiences as your character develops and expands. There is very
little growth where there is no pain and work.
Instead of seeing the tackling of our fears as nerve-racking, see it
as an adventure. An adventure is anything that takes you out of your
comfort zone and into unexplored territory. It can be as grand as an
African safari or as basic as talking to a stranger. Conquering a fear,
big or small, can be downright thrilling. Every man should try to scare
himself a little every day.
2. Change your perspective on risk. The root of our fear is our fear of
trying something and crashing and burning. What if I get rejected?
What if I fail? These are short-term risk assessments. Yes, there is
a chance that you will fall on your face. And if you don’t take the
risk, you’re guaranteed not to face failure.
But in making such a calculation, you are leaving out the long-term
risk, a risk that’s far riskier than any short-term blow to your ego. The
long-term risk is this: that of never amounting to anything. The risk
of living a completely mediocre life. The risk of looking back in 10, 20,
or 30 years and feeling your stomach turn with regret.
When I was a kid and was afraid to do something, whether it was
slide down the water slide backwards or ride a huge roller coaster,
I would ask myself this question: “Which choice are you going to
regret more? Doing this thing and being scared for a few minutes or
not doing it and missing out on the experience and always wondering
what it would have been like?” Even my ten-year-old brain knew
the answer.
Remember, when you skip an opportunity because you’re afraid,
you’ll never get that moment back. Never.
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