Thread by @rroudt

Embrace your fears and worry smart.

To worry is human, but fear for the future can paralyze you. Pick the right moments to look ahead and think strategically about your future.

🧵 An atomic essay on fear-setting.

#ship30for30

Do you fear the future?

Don't worry; worrying is human. No other animal can think of the future, let alone fear it. But we can.

Fear can paralyze you and lead to indecision. Worry smart.

Several times a week, I sit down and think of what could go wrong in my life. Not because I like doom and gloom, but because I want to prepare myself for whatever fate brings.

I don't define many goals, but I do define my fears.

Fear-setting is an exercise I picked up from Tim Ferriss, who got it from the Stoic philosopher Seneca.

It's simple: I define my fears, but instead of worrying about them, I anticipate by thinking of potential ways to prevent or repair them.

That is, if my fears become reality, because Seneca reminds us: "We suffer more often in imagination than in reality."

Define, prevent, repair; a simple framework to smash worry.

Looking at how I can prevent or repair a potentially bad decision often gets me moving, making self-paralysis less likely.

Making the right decision gets easier by asking myself: “What might be the benefits of an attempt or partial success?”

I don't aim for perfection; any potential upswing is welcome and can ease decision-making.

Finally, I ask myself what the price of inaction is.

Even when I don't make a decision I'm still choosing—the status quo. So, I want to know what the price of the status quo is six months, one year, and three years from now.

Knowing the price of inaction is the most important part, as it often removes non-action as a possibility because I'd be much worse off.

I only allow myself to worry when I sit down with pen and paper to answer these questions.

Whenever I catch myself worrying outside of my fear-setting moments, I "park" the issue until the next exercise.

Worry smart.