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Episode 2187:
Leo Babauta explains that fear of failure, judgment, and choosing the wrong path is what most often keeps people from the purposeful work they say they want. He offers four practices: gradual exposure that starts far smaller than the imagined worst case, allowing yourself to actually feel the fear in the body, dropping the ego story behind it, and opening to the task in front of you. His argument is that the fear does not have to be removed before the work can begin.
Read along with the original article(s) here: https://zenhabits.net/fearful/
Quotes to ponder:
"Instead, start with youth football, high school football, and then college football before even considering the big leagues."
"It's not a problem, it's just a feeling, just an experience, just a part of the meaningful work you want to do."
"Being in the present, we can do the work."
Optimal Work Daily is a daily career advice podcast where we narrate the best articles on productivity, entrepreneurship, and work-life balance, read to you by a professional narrator so you can grow your career a little more every day.
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[00:01:00] This is Optimal Work Daily. When fear is stopping you from pursuing meaningful work by Leo Babauta of zenhabits.net. I was having a discussion with a friend recently who is holding himself back from doing the purposeful work he thinks he wants to pursue. So what's holding him back? Well, fear of putting himself out there in public. Fear of failure. Fear of being judged. Fear of choosing the wrong path. And fear of not being good enough.
[00:01:26] Do any of these fears sound familiar? They're very common and hold a lot of people back from pushing themselves into the discomfort and uncertainty of meaningful work. These fears cause us to procrastinate, distract ourselves, comfort ourselves with food and social media and shopping and games, avoid even thinking about it, and beat ourselves up for not doing anything. If we could deal with these fears, we'd be rock stars. I'd like to share a few techniques that will help if you put them into practice.
[00:01:55] Exposure Therapy. Don't start at the Super Bowl. Most people make the mistake of imagining themselves at the scariest part of the journey of their meaningful work. Speaking in front of a huge crowd if you want to do public presentations. Having an audience of hundreds of thousands of people if you want to write a blog or do a podcast. Managing a huge team if you want to run a non-profit organization. But that's like wanting to be a football player and starting at the Super Bowl. You're not ready for that kind of pressure.
[00:02:22] Instead, start with youth football, high school football, and then college football before even considering the big leagues. If you're an author, this means just write one blog post. No one will read it at first, so there's no pressure. Then write another. If you want to do public speaking, just speak in front of a few friends. Then a group of ten people. One small step at a time, and you'll get more and more prepared as you do each step. This is known as exposure therapy.
[00:02:48] Exposing you gradually to the thing you fear, starting with the least scary version of it. It is quite effective, and you can use it by structuring your progress gradually, starting very small. Allow yourself to feel the fear. This is where we bring in mindfulness. When you're feeling fear, instead of turning away from it or trying to escape or avoid it, try turning towards it. Actually allow yourself to feel the fear. We often don't want to feel it, but we have a greater capacity to feel fear than we give ourselves credit for.
[00:03:18] Try it. Notice how the fear feels in your body. Not your story about it, but the actual physical sensations of the fear in your body. Allow yourself to stay with it, to be with it, to tell yourself that it's okay. Be friendly towards yourself and towards the feeling of fear. Gentle. Curious. Open. You will transform your relationship with it even if it doesn't go away. In fact, you'll start to realize that you don't need to get rid of the fear. You don't need to do anything about it. It's not a problem.
[00:03:47] It's just a feeling, just an experience, just a part of the meaningful work you want to do. Practice dropping your ego. Fear comes up because we have a story about what might happen to us. For example, if I try to write this book or start this business, I'll fail. People will judge me because I'm not good enough. The last part might not be vocalized, but it is underlying the story. This is natural, and it's good to notice what our story is, to become more aware of it, and then to start to see its power over us.
[00:04:18] Once we become more aware of the story, we can practice dropping it, and dropping the ego, or self-centeredness, that is at the center of the story. How? By dropping into the present moment, becoming aware of the sensations of the body, the breath, the fear, and everything that surrounds you. Dropping into the present moment, becoming fully immersed in what is happening right now, our ego drops away. The story about what might happen drops away. We can't think about both at the same time,
[00:04:46] so the story will come back, along with our self-concern, and then we practice dropping everything again and being present. Arise and drop, over and over, until we get good at letting go and being here. Being in the present, we can do the work, take the next step, not worry about ourselves, but instead take action for the sake of the people we most deeply want to serve. Open, open, open to joy.
[00:05:12] So we're taking small steps, exposing ourselves gradually to the fear. We're feeling the fear. We're dropping the ego and stepping into the present. Now, from this place, we can practice opening. What is practicing opening like? Imagine that you have to do the hard work to get your meaningful project started. You feel the fear and resistance. You stay present with it, but open to the action of the task in front of you. You become fully present with the task, opening your mind and heart to it.
[00:05:41] You start to fully appreciate the beauty and joy of the task, opening yourself to this incredible experience, which might include discomfort, uncertainty, fear, and resistance. All of it. It's all mixed in with the joy and gratitude you feel for being here, now, with this task. Doing it for people you care about. It's fantastic. And you have the privilege of being able to do it. You just listened to the post titled,
[00:06:11] When Fear is Stopping You from Pursuing Meaningful Work, by Leo Babauta of zenhabits.net. Thinking about refreshing the carpet in your home? Now's the time to do it. For a limited time at the Home Depot, get 10% off installed carpet projects on trusted brands like LifeProof, LifeProof with PetProof Technology, Home Decorators Collection, and Traffic Master. Plus, with installation starting at just 49 cents per square foot, upgrading your space is more affordable than ever at the Home Depot.
[00:06:39] Offer valid September 24th, 2026, through October 4th, 2026. Exclusions apply. For licenses, see HomeDepot.com slash license numbers. This episode is brought to you by PayPal. You know how a mom's bag has everything? Sunscreen? Snacks? A stapler? The new PayPal app is like that, but for your money. Shop, pay, manage your account, and earn rewards all in one place. And with purchase protection on eligible items, biometric security, and pass keys,
[00:07:09] you're protected at every step. Download the new PayPal app to get started. See paypal.com slash protection terms. And a big thank you to Leo for letting us share another piece of his work. He is a great guy with a really unique story. He was an overweight smoker, and eventually became a vegan, lost 65 pounds, and became a marathon runner and business owner, all while raising six kids. He's originally from Guam, but moved to San Francisco in 2010.
[00:07:37] And you can see him featured in the Netflix documentary, Minimalism, which is a topic that he talks about regularly on his blog. So for a lot more, come by zenhabits.net. And again, thanks so much to Leo for letting us share his work. And with that, we've reached the end of another post. So thanks again for being here, and I will see you back here tomorrow for more great content. And that's where your optimal life awaits. Thank you. Thanks for listening. Thank you.