Get Better by Facing Your Fear Daily

Every day, you should decide what you fear most and take at least one step towards it.  The picture above is from when three friends and I did the Ragnar Relay, which actually requires a team of twelve.  Ragnar is a 200 mile non-stop relay run, and doing it with four people seemed like suicide.  To get it done, I became the best runner that I had ever become in my life and the guy in the background got into amazing shape after years of desk jockeying like most of us.  Attacking our fears made us the best we could be.

I was running this morning and thought, "What's my biggest fear right now?"  You should ask this daily because what you fear most is usually what you want to do most.  It wouldn't be a fear unless you are thinking about it constantly, and you're thinking about it because you want to do it.  Do it, and the sense of accomplishment will transform the rest of your day.  My biggest fear?  To run along the freeway in the dark.  Why was it a fear?  Because deep down, I wanted to break out of the boredom of running the same boring loop around my neighborhood again and again.  I needed adventure.

Happiness is the elimination of boredom.

I had a choice.  I could turn right and continue the loop or I could go straight and head out onto the highway.  

I went straight.

There's a part of the Ragnar relay where we had only half a lane coned off for safety and ran straight into oncoming traffic on a highway in the middle of the night.  Loaded up with Red Bull and Tylenol, that was probably the most awesome thing I've ever done.  And once you do something and learn that the risk is actually much less than you thought, it's not that risky after all.  

Running down the side of the highway near my house is actually pretty safe, with a huge shoulder and rumple strip to warn of cars drifting.  I could always escape danger by a good margin by listening and then getting off the road if needed.  This morning, I never even needed to.  My fear was completely unfounded.

Think about what you are afraid of most and take a step towards it.  You might be surprised at what you find.

Comments

[Rodrigo Stulzer]

Have you ever read the Litany Against Fear, from Frank Herbert's book Dune? It's almost the same that you said above:

LITANY AGAINST FEAR
I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain.

Abraços!
Rodrigo Stulzer
transpirando.com

[zkaizen]

Thanks I needed that today!