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A life hack to conquer your fears

A life hack to conquer your fears

Fear setting

Chandan Karkera
March 1st, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutes

After reading this post, we’ll see:

What is Fear setting
How you can use it to get unstuck.

Plus, you guys get a free template!

TL; DR;

Instead of defining goals, define your fears. You’ll be unstoppable.

Once I had to make a huge career decision. It was complicated and involved a lot of uncertainty. I spent weeks thinking about it & how to proceed. It led to a lot of confusion & it was a frustrating time. It was like running around in circles.

Sounds familiar?

Thankfully I found the perfect medicine for getting unstuck. Enter “ fear setting”. The author & investor Tim Ferriss created it.

It is Inspired by the Stoic principle of premeditatio malorum (the pre-meditation of evils). And it’s a powerful exercise to overcome paralysis.

It works so well because it makes you visualize the worst - case scenarios and planning for each of them. This is 100 times better than thinking about the same things endlessly.

"We suffer more often in imagination than in reality."

- Seneca

How to do “fear setting”?

This is a 3 - page written exercise, designed to work through your anxieties.

1. What if I…?

In the first page, you define your fear/ anxiety / what you’re avoiding. e.g.

Asking your crush on a date.
Asking for a promotion.
Starting a company.

Further, you fill 3 columns:

Define - List the worst things that can happen if you proceed with the decision.
Prevent - For each worst thing from column 1, list what you’ll do to prevent/ reduce the chance of it happening.
Repair - Similarly, list how you can repair the damage, if it happens. Remember, there are people in the world who have gone through with similar decisions. So you can list who you will call, if the scenario happens

2. What might be the benefits of an attempt / partial success?

In this page, list how taking action can help you grow. What skills could you develop? How will it build your confidence?

3. The cost of inaction (emotional, physical, financial etc..)

The most important page. Ask yourself “what is the atrocious cost of a status quo”? What happens if you stay where you are & don’t change a thing? Don’t think about the immediate future. Think far out e.g. 6 months, 1 year, 3 years.

Some examples to get started

	Considering a Career Change (Personal)	Starting a Business (Professional)
Define	What if I quit my job and can't find a new one? What if I lose my savings? What if my skills become obsolete?	What if my business fails? What if I lose my investment? What if I damage my reputation?
Prevent	Network with industry contacts, update your resume, take online courses to stay current	Conduct thorough market research, create a detailed business plan, start small and test the market
Repair	Cut expenses, take a temporary job, move to a more affordable area	Sell assets, seek funding from investors, learn from mistakes and try again
Benefits	Increased job satisfaction, better work-life balance, opportunity to learn new skills	Financial independence, creative freedom, opportunity to build something meaningful
Cost of Inaction	Remaining in a soul-crushing job, feeling unfulfilled, experiencing burnout	Never realizing your entrepreneurial potential, feeling stuck, wondering "what if?"

Free template!!

Because you guys rock, here is a free template!

That’s it!!

I hope this concept helps you become unstoppable . If you found this helpful, share with someone who will benefit.