The anatomy of fear

FEAR It’s an emotion which triggers due to a situation which you might think you can’t handle.

However the more you deal with this emotion by putting yourselves in situations which make you deal with it willfully, the more emotionally stable you become.

The first time I did a bungee jump — I was shit scared of heights. I asked the instructor to push me from the edge. I could not muster the courage to jump in a deep gorge in a stream of Ganges which had just a little bit of water. A breaking of the cord for anyone could lead to instant and a painless death.

It did not make sense to my mind and to every cell of my body — to the collective intelligence of each cell — to jump to death and achieve end.

I closed my eyes standing on the edge. Since then, I have done such extreme sports multiple times from the sky, cliffs, on sea bed or on snow clad mountains. There have been times I have fallen, felt ill, or have been near to death.

And each thing educates me a little bit more about fear, a similar one we often see in the eyes of those starting a new business or taking a leap of faith about a new experiment.

Here are some interesting facts about fear:

## Intuition: The other anatomy of fear is that often it is the intuition — which makes it go away — your mind might not think you might survive a situation — such as jumping from that cliff — or starting a business with zero money but inside there is something which knows you’re doing the right thing. to pay your apartment rent the next month,

Often we act in haste such as start a new business line — based upon data, logic and intelligence even if we don’t get excited by it. The intuition guides us on the path to take when you come across a road less travelled.

When faced upon such decisions, it’s the intuition and the collective intelligence of your each cell which guides you in the right direction. Data just acts as one of the factors assisting decision making.

To listen to that collective intelligence is your choice. A path taken against the collective intelligence of your each every cell may either bring you back on the earlier path or make you not feel something good about your decision ultimately.

Often, we are engrossed in thoughts of our own, that we forget to listen to that collective intelligence.

## See the fear in the eye:

As I was standing on edge I was so afraid I decided to close my eyes, I dropped some 100 ft, but had a bad feeling about it — and the fear of heights did not go away. It lingered till almost 7 years till I did it again.

So I had to to it again, I jumped again last month on the shotover river from a bungee — and yes I looked at straight into the mountains and the deep gorge — this time thrice as deep — at about 330 feet.

I was always scared of deep oceans and especially dying by drowning on the sea bed. I dived in Thailand and then again in Indonesia. The feeling of being detached from the world and being along for an hour on the ocean floor — with just the sound of your breath and a lovely world underneath made that fear go away. Yes, the pressure after some 20 feet becomes a bit much. So the trick is to descend and ascend slowly.

It also made me feel that I can survive underwater for an hour or more.

## Trust — Often you have to trust those who have travelled that path — often just have blind faith in them and their abilities to keep you safe.

Be it mentors, investors, your cofounders or even your parents. This time, it was again my instructor, who said have doubly checked you — you are good to jump from the edge.

However the mind again started working and there was no logic that each cell saw in jumping from that high cliff. So, I decided to make it fun and attached a slide to the edge — I sat on the slide — and gravity pulled me down — to the deep gorge.

I survived — as you can see me write here.

As a paraglider friend of mine — Blake tells me — death can come anytime — on the road — or anywhere — it doesn’t mean we should not take the road less travelled.

## Cheer reduces it: Often I have seen skydivers and bunny jumpers cheer each other aloud at 13,000 feet. The more you are encouraged by the crowd — the more you fool your mind by telling you can do it — and you make the jump.

The mind — as it is conditioned — towards inertia — will never let the body take the path of discomfort otherwise.

Fear : Conclusion:

If you either fear leaving your job, leaving the country, starting a business, closing down one or simply jumping over a cliff into a sea filled with a whole new world to see — the emotion of fear is the same.

Facing it with open eyes, accepting and trusting the wisdom of others who have done it before, or just getting encouraged by others if you are a first timer will help you make that leap.

The ultimate leap is based upon faith anyways.

## Negativity and fear is synonymous: Another truth about this emotion is that it makes negative thoughts erupt first. Positive fear — or excitement — invites strength, positive thoughts — and creates a positive energy all along.

Thus people who are too fearful in your team to take that leap for that new assignment — new task or an experiment may not be the ones you may like to make as leaders.

In a startup, where every path is new and untrodden with no footprints to follow — keeping negative thoughts and people in your team will not be a great idea.

They may prevent you from taking that leap of faith.

## Teamwork is important: Then there are some in your team — who may trust your mentors — and will let you take that leap of faith or may even encourage you. But they will never have that courage to take it themselves.

It’s good to keep such players in the team to keep the team together. They may empathize with others who might be fearing the same — but will still keep the boat together and will trust your leadership to sail through the storm.

Then there are others who are willing to experiment with that new idea — and are not fearful whether they will lose their job or position — if the idea works or not — this is a rare quality found in true entrepreneurs.

##Listen to the winds: Whether its summiting a mountain or building a business — listening to the outside environment teaches you a lot.

The wind may not in your direction and the paraglider is likely to overturn — or there is a chance of a avalanche with heavy snow on the summit, listening and gauging the environment helps a lot.

Similarly in building a business, when a particular customer takes his time out to write that negative comment upon your product or service, we should be thankful.

Listening to those customers will make your product mould accordingly.

If not, you may build a product which nobody is likely to use. It may result in a premature shutdown.

##Know when to to climb down: As in extreme sports, likewise in business it’s important to know when to climb or ramp down.

You may be aiming for the summit but it may not be your day. Knowing when to turn around is the mark of a good climber.

Similarly, in building a business while you may be aiming for a certain number of sales, if it doesn’t happen as expected — it’s better to know when to scale or ramp down operations.

Ramping down in time will avoid a burn out and premature death. Trusting the environment than fighting it will makes you the right decision. I was caught in a snow blizzard once while driving a bike through the Himalayas. I took the right call to rest for 30 minutes even though it was getting dark, in a makeshift tea stall. Upon close observance I saw that my fingers had started to get a frostbite. An hour more of driving and it could have been dangerous.

## Survival makes you adept:

Another quality of fear is that the more your survive it — the more adept you become at it.

However there is a difference in being downright foolish and taking calculated risks. An entrepreneur always takes good calculated risks similar to a bungee jumper who puts on and rechecks a harness prior to jumping.

##Fear is less when lot of people do it: Other quality of fear is that — it lessens when there a lot of people involved in it.

If you’ve ever jumped to the bottom of the sea bed in a group or dived from an airplane or formed a formation- holding each other’s hands — you might experience less fear.

Similarly, when there are a lot of stakeholders evolved in the business and mentors as well, the fear of it shutting down prematurely becomes lesser. It will help you take bolder decisions without fear.

##Fear is good for you: Another anatomy of fear is that it is good for you — without adequate fear mechanisms — we could be jumping of cliffs or taking foolish designs which might have made world a chaotic place. It’s nature’s way of keeping the planet in balance.

Removal of complete fear or if you’ve done that long enough might not excite you in that line f business anymore or in the extreme sort. And it might even make you callous to risk a shutdown.

##Keep company with the brave:

Another peculiarity of fear is that — if you be in the company of those who have been taking the leap for too long — you are likely to do it once — even if you are fearful.

I have seen lot of employees joining entrepreneur networks or attending such events — despite a high ticket or membership price. Being in their company reduces their fear and guides them to take chart their right path for that leap of faith. Similarly being a company of bungee jumpers or skydivers will make you take that leap — one day for sure.

##Illness compounds fear:

Another aspect of fear is that — you have to be healthy enough to take that leap. If you’re healthy you might be able to enjoy building a business or any extreme sports for that matter. Staying well comes first before you tackle any fear.

##Tackling it brings joy:

Another benefit of tackling fear is that — you’re likely to see the world in a way others can only dream about — a bird’s view of a glacier while flying over it — or seeing the entire stretch of a mountain from up to down while you swing in a gorge — it will bring you unlimited joy. Similarly, whether the startup fails or succeeds the joy of building it up is unparalleled.