How To Use Fear As A Compass Now

This Week’s BIG Idea

I’ve been thinking a lot about the things that scare me. The interesting part about this is that even the things I love elicit some sort of fear in me. Examples include learning new things, meeting new people, or reading philosophy books. As much as I love those things and as rewarding as they can be, they’re scary to do at first. This is where things get really interesting though because fear also works as a compass. While fear told our ancestors what to avoid, in the modern world, fear guides us in the direction we should be heading. As Tim Ferriss once said, “What we fear doing most is usually what we most need to do.”

As difficult as it is, defining your fears and actively pursuing them can really make you grow. I know for a fact, that personal or professional success comes not from avoiding fear, but from chasing it. Something that inevitably happens the moment you do something scary is that you wonder why you avoided it in the first place. So how about setting aside some time to define the things that scare you the most and actually do them this time? What’s the worst that can happen? What’s the best that can happen? 

What I’m Working on

This week, I worked on a much-needed homepage redesign. Most of the changes are subtle but necessary. While most people won’t notice them, redesigning aspects of the site is always a lot of fun. This is also a way to confront my own limitations, so I usually need to look for tutorial videos or additional material.

What I’m Listening to

The Savings Expert: “Do Not Buy a House” Do THIS Instead - Morgan Housel: in the latest episode of The Diary of a CEO, Steven Bartlett interviews financial expert Morgan Housel. I’ve listened to numerous podcasts with Morgan Housel and since he has a new book coming out soon, I now have access to even more interviews. I’m really excited to read Housel’s new book, Same as Ever, so I might start working on a summary soon. In the meantime though, I can’t get enough of interviews where Housel is a guest.

What I’m Reading

Mindset by Carol Dweck: finding a new book to read is always tough. I must have read several books after I came across Carol Dweck’s Mindset. Interestingly, I had heard about this book before and it’s been on my radar for years, but I never took the time to read it. In the book, the author introduces two mindsets: the fixed mindset is the idea that abilities are fixed and the growth mindset is the idea that abilities can be developed. Those who belong to the latter category will have an unfair advantage over everyone else. Since I just started reading the book, I don’t have much else to share, but the premise of the book has the potential to be life-changing.

What I’m Watching

How the comfort zone is ruining your life by Better Ideas: I’ve been thinking a lot about the benefits of stepping outside of your comfort zone. I think there are numerous benefits to putting yourself in situations that are uncomfortable. In other words, our lives can transform if we can become comfortable doing uncomfortable things. In this video, Joey Schweitzer from Better Ideas explores this premise and discusses it at length.

This Week’s Quote

“Competence is how good you are when there is something to gain. Character is how good you are when there is nothing to gain. People will reward you for competence. But people will only love you for your character.” Mark Manson

Here’s a link to my website where I share chapter-by-chapter summaries of non-fiction books.