I get messages from people from time to time asking me for my advice on how they can be fearless, like me. I tend to respond outlining a full list of my fears…

The truth is, I’m ridiculously scared that I won’t have enough time on this earth to experience everything I dream of and really live. I lost friends in elementary school. All my grandparents passed by the time I was 18. I’ve been to more funerals because of cancer and accidents and heart attacks than I care to remember. I’ve had a recurring dream since I was a kid that I would die in an accident (plane crashes, car crashes, etc). Now, I have no idea how long I will live, but I’m damn sure not wasting the time I have being scared of something that may or may not happen. That doesn’t mean I’m never afraid… it just means I’ve learned to act in spite of my fear.

I was really scared of moving to San Diego with no job and an unpaid internship at 21 years old. I was terrified after my divorce at age 27. I was scared starting my own business and moving states again. But if I let my fear take over, I’d be far more scared of living a life of regret.

The point is: I have fears just like everybody else out there. Like many, I’ve learned to work through them. Here are 3 ways of dealing with fear that have helped me:  [Read more…]