Fear

Whilst waiting for the next module to commence and meanwhile having more time (no volunteering during school hol, I borrowed some books to explore more counseling skills and techniques. So as and when deemed useful I may post in my blog.

Extracts from the book “Intelligent Fear” by Michael Clarkson

Professional golfer Tiger Woods, “ I get very nervous before every shot. It’s how you deal with it that determines whether you will be a success.”

Identify your Fears

-Fear arises when you feel the demands exceed your “deemed" resources.
-Are you thinking negatively? Having unrealistic negative perception of your abilities to deal with the situation? The major problem is that we often see the situations as being too great to handle.
-Are you holding on to too much baggage from the past, a feeling of powerlessness?

Harnessing the energy of Fear

2 stage formula

1) Feel the fear. Feel glad and confident that you have it.

2) Change your fear to a dispassionate focus on skills. By redirecting fear energy you remove distractions and focus the energy on the task at hand. The focus is on the job at hand, now is the time. Develop your physical technique along with your emotional skills so that you learn to trust yourself.

Athletes at crisis points of a match use a similar method to conquer the fear of failure. “ In the moment of truth, they lose total self-awareness….They turn themselves over to their talent and their genes and let their ego get out of the way. It becomes an ideal harmony of mind and body.”


Another formula – 3 stage formula

Change the fear briefly into another passionate emotion- anger or excitement or love- and then channel the energy into the dispassionate work. The transformation must be swift: fear-to-passion-to-dispassion.

The method is taught by Massad Ayoob, a new Hampshire police captain. Ayoob has discovered that when a police officer is threatened by an armed suspect, the officer’s emergency fear system kicks into high gear. This can hinder the officer if he has to use his gun, the officer’s accuracy with his gun breaks down because he is nervous. Ayoob teaches officers to adapt their fear by turning it momentarily to anger and then just as quickly channelling it into their shooting technique.


Another passion that can be used as a quick transition is excitement or the determination to succeed. Instead of just being nervous, you say “This is it" or “This is the moment I’ve been waiting for!” Then, for the third and final stage, you pump your passion into whatever you are doing.

Humour, love or confidence can also be effective middlemen.