If you sometimes feel stuck in your decision-making because you're anxious about possible negative consequences, this is for you.
The tool I'm going to break down for you here is called Fear Setting and was coined by entrepreneur, author, and investor Tim Ferriss. Fear Setting will help you separate what you can control from what you cannot control - and then exercise your focus exclusively on the things you can control. As a result, this will decrease your emotional reactivity, which is literally a superpower.
Ferriss says that it's the tool responsible for his best decisions in business and personal life. He practices Fear Setting at least once a quarter.
Here's what Fear Setting will do for you:
You'll be able to easily visualize the worst-case scenarios that you fear.
You'll overcome paralysis and take action without feeling doubtful.
To do this, you'll have to quiet what Ferriss calls your "monkey mind."
Here's how:
Step 1: Ask yourself - what if you did this?
In this first step, you'll identify the fear of what could happen if you actually took the action you're thinking about.
For this step, you'll need:
Take a piece of paper.
Turn it horizontally.
Make four columns: Define, Prevent, Repair, and I like to add Impact (0-10) as well.
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Define
Prevent
Repair
Impact (0-10)
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Define: Write down all the worst things you can imagine if you take that action (10-20).
Prevent: What could you do to prevent such things from happening, or at the very least, decrease their likelihood?
Repair: If the worst-case scenarios happen, what could you do to repair the damage, even a little bit, or who could you ask for help?
Ask yourself this key question: Has anyone else in the history of time, less intelligent or less driven, figured this out?
Impact: On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate the possible negative consequence of the worst things in the rows that could happen?
Step 2: What might be the benefits of an attempt or partial success?
For this, take a second page and spend at least 10-15 minutes on the question above.
If you attempted your action, and maybe even had a partial success, what could be possible benefits?
Could you build confidence?
Could you develop skills - emotionally, financially, or otherwise?
What might be the benefits of a base hit?
Rate these benefits as well with an impact scale from 0-10.
Step 3: The cost of inaction
A lot of times, the cost of not taking action can be way higher than the possible negative consequences of taking an action.
To make this more tangible: Take a third page and ask yourself: What could be the cost of inaction - emotionally, physically, financially, etc.?
If you were to avoid this action, what might your life look like in six months, one year, three years?
Take a third page and draw four columns like this:
6 months
1 year
3 years
Impact (0-10)
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Conclusion
Looking back at your three pages, you'll likely realize that what you're afraid of is more about your imagination than reality. The cost of not taking action might be significantly higher than a possible negative consequence of acting on it.
I’ll leave you with two additional quotes:
We suffer more often in imagination than in reality. - Seneca
Easy choices, hard life. Hard choices, easy life. - Jerzy Gregorek
And here's the full video of Tim Ferriss explaining Fear Setting in a TED presentation.