My untrained reaction to fear was always to simply avoid it. More recently I’ve developed a more nuanced relationship to fear as a message that carries more detailed meaning. Now when I feel fear I try to remember to take a moment to notice what I’m afraid of, how much fear am I feeling, and why.

In this conversation with Billy J. Atwell on the Unshakeable Self-Confidence podcast we explore fear, the unfamiliar, confidence, outdoor physical activity, grounding in physicality, flow, choosing freedom, and reversing the negative feedback loop of fear→avoidance→dissatisfaction→fear to a positive feedback loop of fear→possibility→opportunity→challenge→
achievement→satisfaction→confidence.

Fear is an indicator of exactly where we are on the spectrum between challenge and achievability. We can use fear to dial ourselves into that place of challenging but just-doable-enough, where we have a very good chance of achieving something that stretches our abilities, which is both very satisfying and also serves to build our confidence.

Thanks also to Hitch McDermid for his message about moving towards fear, which continues to inspire me.