Fear Setting To Overcome Mental Block

If you’ve ever felt stuck between two or more choices, or are unsure whether to take a leap or stay put—this exercise could help you. Fear can be a powerful and paralysing force, holding us back from taking risks and stepping outside our comfort zones. But what if we could use fear not as a barrier, but as a tool? This is where fear-setting comes in, a concept that has been popularised by Tim Ferriss that flips the script on how we approach our anxieties.  

In his 2017 TED Talk and subsequent articles, Ferriss describes fear-setting as a practice that helps clarify your fears, reframe worst-case scenarios, and make informed, intentional decisions. It's like goal-setting, but for everything you’re scared to face. And trust me, it’s worth your time.  

What Is Fear-Setting?  

Fear-setting is a simple, three-step exercise that is designed to help you confront the unknown, the things you are usually too afraid to approach and that many of us actively avoid. Instead of being paralysed by what might go wrong, you lay it all out on paper, step by step:  

1. Define Your Fears: Write down the worst-case scenarios of taking a particular action. What are you afraid might happen if you quit your job, launch a new business, or move to a new city? Be specific.  

2. Prevent and Repair: For each fear, brainstorm ways you could prevent it from happening or mitigate the damage if it does. 

And most importantly,

3. Consider the Cost of Inaction: Ask yourself, “If I avoid this decision, what might my life look like in 6 months, 1 year, or 3 years?”  

This process doesn’t magically erase fear, but it takes the power out of the unknown by forcing you to acknowledge it, plan for it, and see it for what it really is. Is it really as bad as we’re making it out to be?

How does it work?

Fear-setting is about gaining perspective and seeing the full picture. Often, the things we fear most are vague, unexamined, and blown out of proportion by our minds since our brains have a tendency to magnify issues. Fear-setting forces us to break those fears down into manageable considerations, turning the overwhelming into the actionable.  

For example, Ferriss shares how he used fear-setting to decide whether to take a year-long sabbatical from his business—a decision he was terrified of. By clearly defining his fears (e.g., losing clients, damaging his reputation), he realised most of them were either unlikely or fixable. The cost of not taking the break—burnout and missed opportunities—far outweighed the risks.  

The Value of Fear-Setting in Everyday Life

It’s not just entrepreneur or risk-taker that benefit from fear-setting. It’s a tool for anyone facing uncertainty or decision paralysis, whether it’s a career change, a relationship decision, or simply saying “yes” to something new.  

Here’s what makes fear-setting so valuable:  

1. It Promotes Action: By clarifying your fears and weighing them against the cost of inaction, you’re more likely to move forward instead of staying stuck.  

2. It Reduces Anxiety: Writing down your fears and making a plan helps you feel more prepared, which makes the unknown less scary.  

3. It Builds Resilience: Fear-setting trains you to see challenges as solvable and temporary, helping you avoid feeling hopeless.  

The beauty of fear-setting isn’t that it eliminates fear; it’s that it repositions it. Instead of letting fear dictate your decisions, you use it as a guide in your decision making. Fear-setting reminds us that most fears can be managed, mitigated, or overcome. And more often than not, the things we’re most afraid of lead to the greatest growth.  

It’s not about being fearless—it’s about moving forward despite the fear. It’s about realising that failure isn’t the end of the world and that the cost of staying still might be higher than the cost of taking a risk.  

What happens if you don’t take the leap?

Sure, you’ll avoid potential failure, but you’ll also avoid potential growth, new opportunities, and the satisfaction of pursuing something meaningful. In six months, you might still feel stuck in the same place, wondering “what if?” In a year, that feeling could turn into regret. This is what I am reflecting on this rainy Friday morning.

As Tim Ferriss says, “Fear is your friend. Fear is an indicator. Sometimes it shows you what you shouldn’t do. More often than not, it shows you exactly what you should do.”  

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