T. Harv Eker argues that an inner survival-focused voice is driven by fear, which he defines as the "anticipation of pain" and locates in future-oriented thinking. He teaches that one cannot be fearful while fully present in the current moment, so to succeed you should put attention on the present, take action despite fear, and thereby achieve success alongside inner peace and happiness.
You know, you've heard me talk about this many, many times before. But we have an inner voice, let's call it a mind. And that voice is not necessarily your friend when it comes to success and happiness. It actually, its job is to survive. That's it. Its job is to keep you alive. And therefore, it's based on protection. And therefore it's based in fear. Now here's the key thing. When are you in fear? When you're thinking about the past. No, that's not fear. When you're in the present. No, you can't be in fear in the present. It's only when you are thinking about the future. In fact, the definition of fear is anticipation of pain. I'll say it again. Anticipation of pain. Anticipation is when it's in the future. So we say, well, how am I supposed to be successful without action? Well, you can't, so you have to take action. But that's where fear comes in, isn't it? Here's the secret. The secret of all secrets is you cannot be fearful in the present moment. You cannot be fearful when you are putting your attention and your mind and your focus on what is occurring right this moment. Okay? You can only be fearful by thinking about the future. So you say, well, I've got to think about the future if I want to be successful. You put your attention, your vision in the future, but you've got to be in the moment to help avoid fear. And if you are in fear, act in spite of fear. So the secret of all secrets is to be present. What does that mean? It means put your attention, put your mind, put your focus on what is happening right this moment. If you can do that, you will not only be very, very successful, you will be at inner peace and happiness as well. That's a promise.
