Fear is an Excellent Motivator
A Surrey city manager once told me that fear and greed were two of the best ways to prompt action among city staff.
That’s probably true, but fear has an unwanted influence on the brain, and can have an extremely detrimental effect on our decision making.
Fear can initiate our fight, flight or freeze response, which has been responsible for the continuation of our species. But the response is no longer necessary in our day to day world, except for rare circumstances that require immediate action.
This fear response can also make for foggy decision making, which is seldom to the benefit of ourselves or others. Franklin D. Roosevelt once famously said “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself— nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.”
There’s more than just a thread of truth to that.
The first step in avoiding bad decisions due to fear, is to recognize when fear is present. As simple as this sounds, it’s not always easy. Watch for the physical signs of fear, the racing heart rate, damp palms, or the urge to flee. Allow the experience to pass in the absence of any story you may tell yourself about what caused it. When the physical symptoms pass, the fear has likely abated. Then ask yourself when making this decision: How much of this is based on fear?
The interesting thing about fear, is that it’s based on a future we can’t possibly predict with accuracy. Yet, time and again, we allow it to drive decisions that are contrary to the betterment of our personal lives or our business. Much of the above can be also said of greed, which is the other great motivator.
Nothing wrong with either one of them, as long as we keep them in check.