We all have a relationship with this thing called fear.

It manifests itself in everything we do.

If an athlete tames this fear, they’re called a professional. To get there, they go through a rite of passage—they end up with a few battle wounds that have manifested into scars from the inside-out.

The only difference between an amateur and a pro is that a pro has failed more times consecutively than an amateur and has learned to manage their fear. Nobody ever does away with fear completely; it’s always lurking in the background. Fear is patiently stalking you like a lion ready to pounce on its prey.

What does fear do to you? Perhaps you submit, you become a sheep, your IQ rolls back to a two-year-old.

In 1931 Amelia Earhart was the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic ocean.

Getting into a cockpit to fly an airplane takes guts. Especially during the time, when women were largely stereotyped—she not only had to step into the unknown by flying, she also had to fight the naysayers, which is sometimes harder than the actual event itself.

The U.S. Air Force spends billions of dollars each year on defeating fear in their new members looking to be pilots. It takes a tremendous amount of training.

Mike Tyson’s boxing coach Constantine “Cus” D’Amato said,

“You must understand fear so you can manipulate it. Fear is like fire. You can make it work for you: it can warm you in the winter, cook your food when you’re hungry, give you light when you are in the dark, and produce energy. Let it go out of control and it can hurt you, even kill you… Fear is a friend of exceptional people.”

The greatest secret that has been used for thousands of years to defeat fear is repetition.

If you repeatedly put yourself into situations that induce fear, you will re-wire your brain to successfully deal with the fear.

If you’re a writer, entrepreneur, artist, or social activist—face fear and you will change the world.

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Editor: Brianna Bemel

 

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