Title Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway

Author Susan Jeffers

Year Published 2006

Kind of Book Fear/Self-help

How strongly I recommend it 6/10 

My Impressions I resonated with the core message of the book. She veers into some general self-help advice towards the end that seems a bit out of place. All in all I'm glad I read it if not for the idea alone that as long as you continue to grow you will always feel fear. It doesn't go away. So feel the fear and do it anyway.

Date Read June 2017

Practical Takeaways

  • Feel the fear and do it anyway

  • Push through your fears

  • Don't let fear hold you back from living a rich and beautiful life

  • Take the chance to enter unfamiliar territory

  • Say "yes" to all circumstances in your life

  • Connect with the powerhouse within

  • Share the things you are afraid of with others, don't keep them to yourself

  • Tell yourself "Whatever happens to me, given any situation, I can handle it!"

  • Take risks

  • Take action

  • Stop trying to make the fear go away

  • Don't expect the fear to go away as long as you continue to grow

  • Get rid of the fear of something by going out and doing it

  • Go out and do it

  • Remember that everyone else experiences fear too

  • Don't live a life of "What if…"

  • Activate the power within you

  • Ask yourself before doing or not doing anything "Is this action moving me to a more powerful place?"

  • Don't say things that make you weak

  • Do something every day that takes you out of your comfort zone

  • Visualize yourself doing the things that scare you

  • Stop being a victim and "take responsibility for your own life"

  • Choose to create your own joy not your own misery

  • Handle the chatterbox in your mind

  • Figure out what you want in life and act on it

  • Set your goals- then go out and work toward them

  • Figure out what kind of space you would like to live in… then create it

  • "See who you would love to include in your circle of friends…then pick up the phone and make plans to get together. Don't sit around waiting for them to call you"

  • Determine what you need to do to create what looks and feels healthy [in your body]…then make it happen

  • Be aware of the multitude of choice you have in any given situation

  • Decide that its up to you what the day is going to start like

  • "Realize that at every moment you are choosing the way you feel"

  • Be aware of the options you have during the course of a given day.

  • Notice when you complain and stop it

  • Stop blaming others

  • Look at the gifts you have received from what you have always looked at as "Bad" situations

  • Be a Pollyanna

  • Stop worrying about things that ultimately never happen

  • Stop feeding yourself negative thoughts

  • Practice some form of positive thinking daily

  • Always frame affirmations in the positive rather than the negative

  • Always frame affirmations in the present tense

  • "Outtalk your negativity"

  • Don't listen to the radio or TV in the morning

  • Use your commute as a chance to learn

  • Surround yourself with a strong, motivated, inspirational group of people

  • Get rid of people who are dragging you down

  • Surround yourself with people who want what is best for you

  • Be assertive not aggressive

  • Don't be a donkey (ie. Indecisive)

  • Change the way you think about your world

  • Remember that either choice is better than no choice (A or B)

  • Look for clues in your life that you are off course and begin making your game plan to correct the situation

  • Commit to your goals 100%

  • "Say 'yes' to your universe"

  • Let go of resistance to your fears

  • Ask yourself what you can learn from every experience

  • Be patient with yourself

  • Relax your body

  • Chose love and trust

  • Give from a place of love rather than a place of expectation

  • Give away information//teach others what you know

  • Give away praise

  • Become what you want to attract

  • "Be the kind of person you would want to surround yourself with"

  • Listen to your friend's problems

  • Write thank you notes

  • Volunteer

  • Donate to charity

  • Give away love

  • Live in abundance

  • See the purpose of your life as to give

  • Stop searching "out there" to make your life complete

  • Consciously and consistently focus on the spiritual part or yourself

  • Be patient! Don't get discouraged

  • "Don't wait for it to take! Take action!"

  • Write, read, sign up

  • Take a stand

  • Lighten up. Don't take yourself too seriously

  • Laugh

  • Make a pain to power chart. Put a pin where you think you are, Each day move the pin according where you think you are in your power

  • Each night before you go to bed plan the risk you are going to take the following day // don't love this one

  • List all the payoffs you get from staying stuck in some aspect of your life. What don't you have to face? What don't you have to do? What comfort do you get? What image do you hold onto?

  • Go a week without criticizing anyone or complaining about anything

  • Surround yourself with positive quotes all over your house

  • Do positive affirmations before bed

  • Go to self improvement workshops, classes, and seminars to meet friends on the same path as you

  • Put signs around you house that say "So what. I'll handle it"

Before making a decision

  • Focus on the no-lose model

  • Do your homework

  • Establish you priorities

  • Trust you impulses ie. Trust your guy

  • Lighten up

After making a decision

  • Throw away your picture ( of what might have been)

  • Accept total responsibility for your decisions

  • Commit yourself to any decision you make and give it all you've got

  • If your decision doesn't work change it

Change your vocabulary

  • "I can't" ---- "I won't"

  • "I should"----"I could"

  • "It's not my fault"---"I'm totally responsible"

  • "It's a problem"----"It's an opportunity"

  • "Life's a struggle"----"Life's an adventure"

  • "I hope"----"I know"

  • "If only"----"Next time"

  • "What will I do?"---"I know I can handle it"

  • "It's terrible"---"It's a learning experience"

 

Big Ideas

  • As long as you are continuing to grow you will always feel fear

  • The best way out of something is always to do through (not to retreat from it)-Hellen Keller

  • The only way to get rid of the fear of doing something is to go out and do it

  • The only way to feel better about yourself is to do the thing you're afraid to do

  • Pushing through fear is less frightening than living with the underlying fear that comes from a feeling of helplessness

  • The more you expand your comfort zone the more powerful you become