Adam Markel explains how fear is a perception, not reality, and walks through a three-step approach to handle it: neutralize your habitual beliefs, spot the creative opportunity, and recalculate your position. He uses stories of getting lost in Tokyo and New York to show how this works.
Chapters
Proven. You cannot change one thing without the output changing. We've got to be able to change how we see things and how we see things. Our perception is based on our beliefs. Our programming and our beliefs create our behaviors. So the second thing that I want to share with you is that we've got to look at our mindset and reframe certain aspects of how we see the world. We know that fear is a perception. We talked about it earlier. That's all it is. It's a perception. It is not a reality. So what do we do when we're faced with fear? What do we do when we're faced with uncertainty in our businesses or in our personal lives? We apply a simple system. This is what I've been doing for years. I did it today on my way to a place called Don Quixote that some of you know. I went there to find some gifts and things that I was taking home to the United States. And I was out on the streets in this beautiful city of Tokyo, and I was lost. And it reminded me of a time when I was a child, when I got lost in another big city, New York City. I was very frightened. I felt very threatened. And I could feel that coming up again. And so I said, well, this is perfect. I'm going to speak about this tonight. What do I do? What do I do in this moment? I neutralized my thoughts for a moment. Just for a moment. I said, maybe there is no threat. Maybe it's not good or bad that I'm lost. Maybe it's not right or wrong. Maybe it's nothing. Maybe the only meaning I'm giving this is the meaning that I give it habitually based on my past. So I neutralized my thoughts. I suspended my belief, in other words. And then I looked for the creative opportunity, which is something my wife reminds me about all the time. It's so important in business that we are constantly looking for the creative opportunity in every situation. Situation. So I looked at the creative opportunity. I said, you know what? I'm lost. I'm on my way to this place. I don't know where it is. I don't speak the language very well. Just a little bit. And I approach people on the street. And before long, I could. I was there. I was there because I had forged new relationships with people. I had a good time. I learned my way to that store today. I found the creative opportunity that existed. And then I recalculated. You can recalculate your position from anywhere. It's just gps. What happens in your car. When you make a wrong turn, what does your GPS say to you? If it's speaking in the car, what does it say? Does it say, you idiot, I can't believe you went wrong? It's just like your father said. You never listen to directions. Is that what your GPS says? It just says what? Re calculating.
