Name Your Fears

You won't get rid of fear, but this may help you dance with it and avoid paralysis.

Sometimes you need to make a decision but you are afraid because of the uncertainties. You know that good decisions do not guarantee good results.

Tim Ferriss suggests an exercise he calls fear setting. Name your fears, and list what is the worst that could happen if your decision went sour. Rank each item on a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being nothing and 10 being permanently negative life-changing. Next to each item, write down how could you prevent the negative effect, and repair the effect if it comes to happen.

Also, realize your best-case scenario, or even a probable-case scenario, and rank 1-10 where 10 is a positive life-changing event.

Fear-setting has produced my biggest business and personal success, as well as repeatedly helped me to avoid catastrophic mistakes.

– Tim Ferris

Another complementary approach: consider if the decision is reversible or not.