No one likes being held back. And yet, when was the last time you actively addressed what’s holding you back? Because chances are that you’re avoiding the problem instead of facing it. Ready to face your fear and get moving again?

Let’s start with fear setting.

And if you haven’t heard of the concept —

Now is a good time to get familiar with the term.

Because while you may be familiar with goal setting, you may not be familiar with fear setting.

Even if you’ve heard of Tim Ferriss.

Because Tim wrote a little book called The Four Hour Workweek a few years ago.

And for some men, that book seemed a little weird.

While for others it hit pay dirt.

But in any case —

Even if you’re familiar with Mr. Ferriss and that book, you may not have listened to his TED talk on “fear setting.”

So please take a few minutes to listen.

Because what he says in this talk is important.

In fact, what Ferriss claims in this talk may change the way you think about fear and focus—

So please start by taking a look at this short talk (under 14 minutes).

And then come right back for some take aways to change your relationship with fear —

And get moving again.

Held back by your decisions?

Ferriss makes some pretty big claims in this talk.

Among them, that it is worth your time to take a closer look at stoicism.

And in particular, to notice the way stoicism helps you to break down what comes at you in life into two categories:

• What you can control
• What you can’t control

And to focus much more on what you can control — than to focus on what you can’t control.

And in so doing, decrease emotional reactivity.

Because, as Seneca said:

“We suffer more often in imagination than in reality.”

Which led Ferriss to challenge you —

He challenged you to take a closer look at defining what you fear at a much deeper level than you may be used to.

In other words —

To move your fears from imagination into reality by what Ferriss calls fear setting.

So you might try his 3 page approach to evaluate your fears — and what to do in the face of them.

Decisions — Hard and Easy.

And finally —

Perhaps the biggest take away today.

Let’s say that you are, in fact, held back by a fear.

In that context, ask yourself:

Am I sliding by with easy decisions — and making my life harder in the process?

And be honest.

Or am I taking the time to really look at the hard decisions I need to be making —

Which in the long run will make my life easier?