Use Fear as A Sign For Where You Need To Go

Recently I started climbing for fun and as a new form of fitness.

It's one of the most demanding sports I've tried.

To complete a bouldering problem, you need good technique and strength.

I've been loving it so far but there's a huge catch.

I'm deathly afraid of heights.

You would think "Alex why the hell are you climbing if you're afraid of heights?"

Well you see for me the adrenaline and rush of excitement when I send a climb far outweighs the fear of heights.

Like how I've been approaching life, I try to look at fear, or what I'm afraid of, and use it as a way to direct myself.

You see most people try to get rid of or avoid their fears.

That's how society has conditioned us.

The biggest fear created by society is some form of inability to provide, or a risk of getting closer to death.

The solution:

• find a comfortable life

• a suburban home

• a steady job

• start a family

But most people also want:

• a life of excitement

• not getting caught in mundane routines

The conflict here is that a lot of the things people want would need some sacrifice.

And most of the time it requires doing uncomfortable things.

It's easy for someone to want to avoid doing uncomfortable things in their daily life.

That's true for me and this whole climbing thing.

Getting a rush of fear when I look down after climbing a route was not what I had in mind for my mornings

But as time goes on and this has become my normal routine, I've become accustomed to the discomfort.

New opportunities tend to open up to you once you overcome the fear or discomfort.

I experienced this when I quit my job after a series of mental health challenges like depression.

First I didn't want to leave my job because of my fear of being unable to provide for myself, even when it was hurting me

But once I left it wasn't long until I found more fulfilling work.

Even if video creation and learning how to run my own business was grueling work and it took up a lot of time.

I was learning about cameras, filmmaking, storytelling and creative endeavors.

More opportunities started appearing one after the other.

And now creating content through the internet is my full time career, even if I have a long way to go.

I wouldn't have imagined it was possible until I took that leap of faith and embraced discomfort and fear.

My process wasn't too complex either, I followed a few straightforward steps along the way.

First, start using fear as a signpost to tell you where you need to go and what you need to do.

From there you follow what I call "Three Ls"

(because sometimes you have to take some Ls before you get your wins)

The "Three Ls" are as follows:

• Listen

• Learn

• Leap

Listen
Listen to what your body is telling you - intuition and reading your current environment.

Is your fear encouraging you to push forward, or is it fear that has been crippling you like the fear of failure?

Remember there's two types of fear - one sparks excitement, the other creates anxiety

Learn

Learn the skills to conquer the mountain ahead.

fear is pointing to a mountain ahead of you, a new path that needs to be your new challenge.

Skills are like acquiring the gear, and the knowledge to use that gear to climb the mountain

Leap

Take a leap of faith to get to the place you want to go

Take the leap of faith into the unknown, that direction that's causing the fear to accumulate.

That's where you'll find your state of flow.

And the best things in life will follow.

So again, the best things in life will come to you when you seek discomfort, and let that fear guide you beyond your comfort zone.