How to Respond to Fear

Scenario: "Dude, don't think about it. Just stop. Be strong. Yay!" What do you do when fear strikes?

• a) "I'll try to run away from it!"
• b) "I'll embrace fear like it's free pizza!"

If you try running away from fear, something super-crazy happens: Fear remains. It sticks with you. It destroys your confidence. Why? It's the association factor: If someone sends you the following command: "Don't think of an elephant." What do you do? You start thinking of a fat-freakin' elephant. !@^^! Similarly, when you tell yourself:

• "I will not think of fear!"
• "I will escape it!"
• "I will not think about it!"

Fear inevitably remains with you -- regardless of how hard you try to fight it. What's the best way then to defeat fear like the muth-!@^^% that is? Respond to fear by embracing the sucka; you'll subconsciously start to overcome it.

Why Embrace Fear

Say you fear a rabbit:

1. Your heart starts pounding.
2. Your breathing becomes shallow.
3. Your muscles start contracting.

And then you try to follow the advice from those self-proclaimed 'gurus' -- who tell you: "Just don't think about it. Yay!" Fat-freakin'-elephant, !@^^.

Instead, when you fully embrace your fear, something paradoxically cool happens physiologically:

• You start breathing fuller/deeper/sexier.
• That calms your nerves.
• Your brain becomes clearer/smarter with more oxygen.

Then, you start freakishly getting more energy/determination/power to overcome the fear. Win.

Ways to Approach Your Fear

The moment you start feeling that fearful thingamajigger, embrace it:

• "Come to me, baby."
• "I love you. Come, come."
• "Yes, I feel you fear. Oh, yes."
• "I surrender to you, baby."

By confronting that fear (i.e. not running away from it), you ready your badass to gradually defeat the mutha-!@^^%^.

And Remember...

The more times you confront your fear (i.e. the more times you expose yourself to it), the likelier you'll destroy it. Prep yo-bad-self:

• "If I fear sales, I'll sell ___ times next month."
• "If I fear networking, I'll network with ___ people this year."
• "If I fear failing, I'll intentionally fail ___ time this year."
• "If I fear rabbits, I'll visit rabbits ___ times this week."

Sure, you'll probably start out sucking. But as you progressively expose yourself to it, fear gradually diminishes. Rule of thumb: You'll steadily demolish a fear the more times you confront those fears. So the next time you're feeling fear:

Start embracing the mutha-!@^^%^.

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