{"id":122274,"date":"2024-01-20T00:22:00","date_gmt":"2024-01-20T04:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=122274"},"modified":"2024-02-01T12:36:22","modified_gmt":"2024-02-01T16:36:22","slug":"fear-of-taking-action","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/fear-of-taking-action\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Overcome the Fear of Taking Action: Start Small"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>What&#8217;s the best way to deal with fear of taking action? How can you overcome your anxieties?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dealing with the fear of taking action starts with acknowledging the problem and deciding to address it directly. The best way to do this is to set a goal of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-face-your-fears\/\">facing your fear<\/a> in a small, insignificant way to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/build-confidence-and-destroy-fear\/\">build confidence<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here\u2019s more on developing courage and confidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-a-tip-to-overcome-fear-start-with-something-small\">A Tip to Overcome Fear: Start With Something Small<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/app\/book\/the-subtle-art-of-not-giving-a-f-ck\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck<\/em><\/a>, Mark Manson offers one way to address the fear of taking action: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/app\/book\/the-subtle-art-of-not-giving-a-f-ck\/chapter-7#set-a-low-bar-then-clear-it\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Just do something<em>,<\/em> no matter what it is<\/a>. He suggests that people who are paralyzed by fear should pick some extremely small goal and then accomplish it. For instance, a board member might set a goal to make just one suggestion of his own, even if it\u2019s about something unimportant like which restaurant should cater their next meeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Manson says that setting such a low bar will help in two ways:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>First, the task is so trivial\u2014and the consequences for failing are so minimal\u2014that the person will be less afraid of making a mistake. To continue the earlier example, that board member should ask himself whether it really matters if the board decides not to go with the restaurant he suggested. After realizing that it doesn\u2019t matter, he\u2019ll feel free to make that suggestion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Second, accomplishing even a tiny goal will prove to the fearful person that they\u2019re making progress, and it will motivate them to <em>keep <\/em>making progress. To continue the earlier example, perhaps that board member\u2019s next goal could be to make just one suggestion about something business-related. Once he realizes that he can do that, he\u2019ll start being able to function as a contributing member of the board.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What&#8217;s the best way to deal with fear of taking action? How can you overcome your anxieties? Dealing with the fear of taking action starts with acknowledging the problem and deciding to address it directly. The best way to do this is to set a goal of facing your fear in a small, insignificant way to build confidence. Here\u2019s more on developing courage and confidence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":122275,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[42,9,43],"tags":[1388],"class_list":["post-122274","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-motivation","category-psychology","category-self-improvement","tag-king-warrior-magician-lover","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How to Overcome the Fear of Taking Action: Start Small - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Can you overcome the fear of taking action? 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