Nerve by Taylor Clark is a great read. It is an entertaining and insightful look into fear. He shares some key methods to deal with fear, anxiety, and stress. I didn’t say overcome fear because our fears are here to stay (for the most part). The hero’s of the world acknowledge the fear and move forward with it.

Lesson #10: Build faith in yourself.
“…developing confidence that you can handle intense fear and stressful predicaments is absolutely vital…remember, worry research shows that people handle worst-case scenarios far better than they ever expected, and therapists like David Barlow like to plunge their clients into deep terror to show them reserves of strength they didn’t know they had. And in addition to building confidence through fear exposure, we can also do it through the ways that we talk to ourselves and handle worrisome visions of the future. Here’s a useful practice: next time you imagine something you fear coming to pass, visualize yourself not enduring it miserably or falling apart but coping with it well, demonstrating grit and resilience.”

Nerve by Taylor Clark is a great read. It is an entertaining and insightful look into fear. He shares some key methods to deal with fear, anxiety, and stress. I didn’t say overcome fear because our fears are here to stay (for the most part). The hero’s of the world acknowledge the fear and move forward with it.

Lesson #7: Learn to accept uncertainty and lack of control.
“Anxiety and stress feed on our negative response to feeling uncertain or powerless over the future…anxiety expert Robert Leahy suggests…taking a hint from the well-worn Serenity Prayer, which aspires to ‘the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.’ When we’re troubled about something uncertain or uncontrollable…Leahy recommends a simple practice to help us accept reality…suppose you’re worried you might be laid off from your job. Leahy says that if you bask in your uncertainty (that is, expose yourself to your fear about the future), repeating the distressing thought It’s possible I could be laid off to yourself without resisting your anxious emotional reaction, then you (and your amygdala) will eventually begin habituating to it. With enough exposure, the idea loses its power and becomes almost dull.”

Nerve by Taylor Clark is a great read. It is an entertaining and insightful look into fear. He shares some key methods to deal with fear, anxiety, and stress. I didn’t say overcome fear because our fears are here to stay (for the most part). The hero’s of the world acknowledge the fear and move forward with it.

Lesson #6: Expose yourself to your fears.
“If you want to remain locked into a fear indefinitely, then by all means, avoid the situations that make you anxious. but if you want to give your amygdala a chance to get over a fear, you must exposure yourself to the things and ideas that scare you…a good rule of thumb…if anxiety is stopping you from doing something that isn’t objectively dangerous, do it anyway….get in the habit of moving toward your fears rather than running away. When you do so, even ‘failures’ become successes, each exposure two steps forward to one step back.”