Fighting Through Fear And Anxiety To Take Action

As you know, I’m a HUGE fan of taking action, especially in situations where there is potential for a tremendous positive impact.

The Culprits Holding Us Back

Taking action sounds relatively straightforward, but there are many reasons people remain stagnant; busyness, laziness/procrastination, and analysis paralysis, to name just a few. From just my personal observations it seems like the two main culprits holding back most of us in the FI community are fear & anxiety.

On its own, fear is a powerful emotion that arises in response to perceived danger or threats. Although fear is natural and can actually be experienced as either positive or negative, most of us try to avoid the unpleasantness that comes with it. Adding in uncertainty about the future can lead to a closely related emotion, anxiety. While physical reactions to both fear & anxiety may overlap, the triggers and overall feeling may differ. Regardless, these are two emotions that few of us want to encounter.

We’re All Susceptible To Emotions

Why do fear & anxiety specifically seem to target us in the FI community? Because most of us want to have complete control over everything (or at least a sense of control). We want to make optimal decisions, we want to have known outcomes, we want absolute certainty, we want to be fully in charge of our lives. However, we all know that this is not possible. Nobody can predict the future and nobody has total control. It’s at times like these that fear & anxiety come in to fill the void. Ironically, even the onset of fear & anxiety themselves are out of our control.

Unfortunately I’ve seen so many people not take action because these emotions run so strong.

One of my friends has been obsessed with living in Japan for the entire 10+ years that I’ve known him. (Japan holds special significance because he was very close friends with a foreign exchange student in highschool). Whenever I ask when he’s going, I always get some excuse about “not having enough vacation time”, “it’s too much hassle to get a visa”, etc. While these excuses may be true, they are more of an inconvenience and not insurmountable. Knowing my friend’s background & upbringing, what I really see behind his inaction is fear & anxiety – planning for extended international travel can be costly & complicated so what if something goes wrong; there could be a potential letdown if reality turns out different than the idealized vision of Japan he had been building in his head for so long; etc.

Another friend bought Nvidia stock in 2015 and with the recent run-up in price has gained a whopping 23,000%! Of course this is amazing and incredibly lucky. The only “downside” is that this stock now dominates her portfolio with its outsize weighting. While this is potentially a good “problem” to have, my friend is also a big believer in index funds and knows that she should trim her position in Nvidia. (Note: I’m a big believer in index funds myself, so I agree with her assessment). Although she knows the logical thing to do, she hasn’t taken any action to sell Nvidia and rebalance because of her emotions – not knowing how Nvidia will perform in the future and fear of missing out (FOMO) on additional gains.

Besides seeing it happen to other people, you may recall that I had my own bout with emotions when I recently sold a stock. So I can definitely attest that fear & anxiety are not selective and can impact most of us!

So how do we combat these emotions? It takes a mindset shift.

Circles of Control, Influence, & Concern

The first thing we need to acknowledge is that as much as we’d like to, we can’t control everything – this is absolutely impossible. Of course, deep-down we all know this, but it’s often hard to admit. We must recognize that while we can’t control everything, there are many things that we can control or influence.

Stephen Covey illustrates this idea with an excellent concept using concentric circles:

The innermost circle, “The Circle of Control”, represents all things in life that someone has direct control over. Some examples include thoughts, emotions, actions, behaviors.
The middle circle, “The Circle of Influence”, represents all things that someone does not have direct control over, but can influence through communication, collaboration, or actions. Some examples include relationships, work environment, health, reputation.
The outer circle, “The Circle of Concern”, represents all things that someone does not have direct control over and cannot influence. Some examples include the weather, natural disasters, traffic, the economy.

While we can never know what will happen in the future with absolute certainty (Circle of Concern), we can make highly-educated assumptions while simultaneously doing everything in our power to prepare & plan for success (Circles of Control & Influence). I think particularly in this community we do a great job of this already by educating ourselves to the highest-extent possible while utilizing all available tools & resources (i.e. spreadsheets, podcasts, blogs, etc).

Be A Little Bit Dangerous

The second thing is to realize that most of our fears are irrational. Yes, it’s true that sometimes outcomes are negative no matter how much preparation & planning we put into it. On the other hand, more often than not things usually turn out okay in the end – results are either excellent or even just average (which I’d still consider acceptable).

Carl Jensen summed it up perfectly on a recent episode of the Mindful FIRE podcast: “Err on the side of being a little bit dangerous and being a little bit scared. My life looks drastically different now than I ever thought it would… but it’s better. Life is really good”. Note: Carl’s quote was specifically on the topic of leaving work and stepping into early retirement (which of course is a HUGE action in itself), however I think this advice can be applied to all decisions we make in life. Take that chance, be a little scared, all while knowing there’s a considerable chance that things will turn out great in the end.

Test Out New Things

The third thing to consider is that most actions don’t have to be permanent. Yes, there are many moves that are either irreversible or extremely difficult/costly to undo, such as buying/selling a property, getting married/divorced, etc. On the other hand, most decisions we make are completely reversible and/or temporary such as contributing to a retirement account (can stop contributing or lower the amount), trying a new side hustle (can test multiple gigs to find a good fit), taking a vacation to somewhere new (can try a different location next time). Even seemingly large decisions such as moving to a new city or stepping into early retirement are reversible if you think about it.

Alan and Katie Donegan have an excellent concept called “mini-experiments” which are small-scale/low-risk tests that help validate larger ideas and strategies. Alan initially developed this idea in conjunction with business startups, running small tests to determine if a business was even viable before allocating extraordinary resources to it. Over time the idea has evolved from a business-specific tool to one that is applicable to all aspects of life. For any decision we’re unsure about, try a “mini-experiment” first to determine the long-term feasibility.

Although I had heard of “mini-experiments” in the past, I was never too interested in the idea. However, this concept really struck a chord with my wife and I when we heard about it again at last year’s EconoMe conference. Alan & Katie gave a great presentation encouraging everyone to create their own extraordinary lives and to use “mini-experiments” as a tool to help uncover what this meant. My wife and I took this message to heart and whenever we’ve been on the precipice of making a decision but have been too scared, we’ve looked at each other and said “this is just another mini-experiment” then proceeded to move forward more often than not.

Don’t Just Stand There

Lastly, keep in mind that any step taken is better than staying put. Things could turn out bad (even extremely bad) or things could turn out well (even extremely well), but the only way to experience either result is to take that step in the first place.

So as we begin a new year, this is the perfect time for trying something new. It’s also the perfect time for new year’s resolutions in case you’re still looking for one. I encourage everyone to fight through any fear & anxiety holding you back and take action towards a better future.

If it turns out bad, our community will always be here to encourage and support you.

But more importantly (and more likely), if it turns out well, our community will also be here to help you celebrate!

Links/Resources

Reader Questions

Has fear, anxiety, or any other emotion ever stopped you from taking action? If so, have you been able to work through those emotions or are you still stuck in place?

Leave your answers or comments below – or email us directly at info@epicfinancialjourney.com