How to Overcome Fear - Find Something Familiar
One of the foundational principles in The Savage Leader is to “Cultivate Fear and Make it Your Friend.” We all face fear in our lives and in our careers. Fear of failure, fear of the unknown, fear of embarrassing ourselves in front of our peers or on social media. We all face fear, and the key is to listen to what it is telling you, turn into it, and then start to overcome it so that we can move forward.
Below is an excerpt from The Savage Leader that highlights how a Navy SEAL overcomes fear by finding something familiar.
How to Overcome Fear - Tips from a Navy SEAL
As kids, we cling to familiar items to deal with the fear of the dark and other unknowns. My youngest son clutches a stuffed velvet eagle to help him fall asleep. The familiarity of his stuffed animal provides him with a sense of comfort.
As adults, we can also use familiarity to navigate through the hollows of fear. Thaddeus, a former Navy SEAL, learned in training to mentally latch onto something familiar to help pull him through new, uncertain challenges. When he faced a new assignment during BUD/S training, rather than be overwhelmed with the magnitude of the task, Thaddeus looked for an element of familiarity to generate the confidence he needed to keep going.
During one particularly brutal day, Thaddeus found himself sitting in the cold surf of the ocean and thinking, Geez, I don’t know if I am going to make it. However, he knew that the next exercise was Log PT, where six to seven recruits would carry a 200-pound log for two hours while performing a variety of calisthenics.
Log PT was a known element to Thaddeus, and he was familiar with the exercise. Just knowing that helped make the unknown of what else was to come, less scary for Thaddeus. The fear of the unfamiliar often drives many aspiring Navy SEALs to quit. “Most people quit at the beginning of an evolution [during BUD/S training] as they build up the future pain to be worse than it actually is.”
Thaddeus is describing the power of fear—how our thoughts can run away with us, creating outsized expectations about a future event that may not be true. The key to reining in our fears, Thaddeus told me, is to find familiarity or a familiar pattern. This will help to keep you moving forward through the fear.
Key Takeaway
We all face fear throughout our lives and our careers. Fear of a project failing. Fear of losing a deal with a new customer. Fear of pitching a deal to the biggest prospect to date. Embrace the fear by finding an element of familiarity. Ask yourself, “Is there some aspect of this project that I have previously completed successfully?” or, “Is there a similar deal I have closed in the past?” or, “Have I conducted a similarly challenging conversation before?” Finding familiar elements will help you proceed despite the fear.
Savage Leaders face their fears by looking for and embracing familiar elements to guide them forward.
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