109 How to make fear work in your favor

Reinventure Me

Do not fear fear. Put it to work instead. In this episode, we talk about how to make fear work in your favor.

This week’s Inspire Me quote is from Ambrose Redmoon:

“Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear.”

In this episode, Leary and Armin discuss fear and how it impacts us and our ventures. They suggest four steps we can take to help us live courageously:

1. Write down the fears that come to mind when you contemplate your project or venture.
2. Identify the reverse pointers for those fears.
3. Consider what actions you can take now to support your goals.
4. Think about how you can involve others.

Quotes from the show:

• “Sometimes, courage is really just being willing to get up the next day and start over.” —Leary
• “Fear is a natural response. And, yet, we can choose how we deal with it when it comes.” —Leary
• “Fear is really a reverse pointer to something else—to something that’s greater.” —Leary
• “Fear naturally drives us to self-protection…. Usually, fear is there to prevent something from happening. Often, it prevents action.” —Leary
• “[Fear forces us to] either sacrifice doing our best work or doing our own work.” —Leary
• “The key here is to get fear to work for you by understanding what it’s pointing to and understanding your higher purpose.” —Leary
• “Our greatest regret is always what we [don’t] do.” —Armin
• “Community sharpens our venture and the choices we make.” —Leary
• “Community is one of the greatest tools anyone can have for just about anything.” —Armin
• “It’s really difficult for a lot of people to do because you have to get vulnerable and the issue with vulnerability is the fear of rejection.” —Armin

This week’s Challenge Me:

What goal do you want to achieve? Write down the fears that you have around that goal and identify what you stand to lose or gain—those higher-order objectives the fears point to. Then, consider what next steps you can take to support that goal.

What do you think of this topic and episode? Share your comments or questions below.

Resources mentioned in or related to this podcast episode:

• “What it takes to be a writer (with guest Jerry B. Jenkins),” Episode 107 of the Reinventure Me podcast
• “How to beat procrastination,” Episode 70 of the Reinventure Me podcast