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PRINCIPLE 15: EXPERIENCE YOUR FEAR AND
TAKE ACTION ANYWAY

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Introduction to This Principle www.getwsodo.com
“Success Principle #15: Experience Your Fear and Take Action Anyway” tells us that, as you move forward on
your journey from where you are to where you want to be, you are going to have to confront your fears. Fear
is natural. Whenever you start a new project, take on a new venture, or put yourself out there, there is usually
fear.
Unfortunately, most people let fear stop them from taking the necessary steps to achieve their dreams.
Successful people, on the other hand, feel the fear along with the rest of us but don’t let it keep them from
doing anything they want to do—or have to do. They understand that fear is something to be acknowledged,
experienced, and taken along for the ride.
In This Principle
Concepts
I Scare Myself By Imagining
Facilitator Observations
Exercises
I Scare Myself By Imagining
Stop Scaring Yourself
Hidden Victim Language
Worksheets
Stop Scaring Yourself

Copyright © 2018 Self Esteem Seminars, L.P. All Rights Reserved. Jack Canfield and The Success Principles
are trademarks of Self Esteem Seminars, L.P. 7/24/18

I Scare Myself By Imagining – Concept
Context
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Fear stops many people from taking actions on their goals. Whether they must make a difficult phone call, ask
for help, make a presentation, or something else, they imagine the worst possible outcomes. This module will
provide strategies for facing fear and taking action anyway.
Overview
The images we hold in our mind can affect us in very powerful ways. This exercise is designed to dramatically
prove how most of the fear we experience is self-created by imagining catastrophic events in the future. These
events have not actually happened, but affect us nevertheless because we hold them in our minds as images.
We actually experience the fear now in our bodies, because our bodies cannot distinguish between real events
and vividly imagined ones.
Objective
• Participants will become aware of and accept responsibility for the fact that they create their own fear
through negative imaging.
Support
PowerPoint slides

I Scare Myself By Imagining: Script
This exercise is recommended for older students only—ages 14 and up.
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“The images we hold in our mind can affect us in very powerful ways. This exercise is
designed to dramatically prove how most of the fear we experience is self-created by
imagining catastrophic events in the future. These events have not actually happened, but
affect us nevertheless because we hold them in our minds as images. We actually experience
the fear now in our bodies, because our bodies cannot distinguish between real events and
vividly imagined ones.
“As an example, if you’ve ever been in a workshop where they take you through
the ”Skyscraper Fantasy,“ this is what you likely experienced. It is not being on the high
terrace that is frightening. It is the image or thought of falling off—the catastrophic event—
that is scary. Coincidentally, this catastrophic imagining is the basis of most phobias—such
as fear of flying or fear of the dark.
“The next time you are on an airplane and experience your muscles tightening before take-
off or landing, close your eyes. When we close our eyes to observe our internal processes,
we notice that we are creating and holding images of the plane crashing, turning over end-
on-end, and burning.
“To counteract these catastrophic images, use the principle of positive or “anastrophic”
replacement: simply began to imagine already having arrived safely and having a good time.
Instructions
First, ask the students to find a partner and to sit directly facing them. Ask them to maintain eye contact during
the entire exercise. Maintaining eye contact will help to deepen the level of awareness. Ask them to respond
back and forth beginning sentences with the words “I am afraid to __________” It is important to emphasize
that they fill the blank with things they are afraid to do. For example, do not say, ”I am afraid of spiders“ but
rather, ”I am afraid to touch (or to hold) spiders.“
It is helpful at this point to write the sentence stub, “I am afraid to __________” on the chalkboard (or have a
PowerPoint slide that states this). Once participants are ready, ask them to begin, reminding them to stay with
the exercise and not to drift into talking about other things. Give them about two or three minutes for this part
of the exercise.

While the students are engaged in this first part of the exercise, write the following sentence on another
section of the Whiteboard or flip chart (or have ready on a slide):
I’d really like to ________________, and I scare myself
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by imagining _____(what could happen)_____ if I did.
After the students have exchanged responses back and forth for about three minutes, ask them to stop. Draw
their attention to the new sentence on the board, and ask them to go back and repeat all of their same “I’m
afraid to’s,” but to translate the previous sentence into the new structure. For example, ”I’m afraid to touch
spiders,“ would become, ”I’d really like to touch spiders, and I scare myself by imagining that if I did touch
them, they would bite me, and I would get sick and die.“ ”I’m afraid to tell my sister how I feel about her new
boyfriend,“ would become, ”I’d really like to tell my sister how I feel about her new boyfriend and I scare
myself by imagining she’d scream at me and tell me to mind my own business.“
Point out to the participants the importance of using “and” rather than “but” in the sentence. The use of “and”
helps emphasize the simultaneity of the desire and the action. They are simply stated as two facts co-existing
in time and space: they are not contradictory (as the word “but” would imply).
Once participants have understood the directions, ask them to begin. Again, three or four minutes will
probably be enough time for them to complete this part of the exercise. If the energy is high, you may wish to
give them an extra minute or two.
Stop them again, and ask if they now understand how, in fact, they create most of their fear by imagining
negative things, which have not yet happened. Ask them to share some examples from their own lives.

Facilitator Observations: Concept
Context
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It’s often helpful to process students’ and participants’ actual fears to show that most fear is Fantasized
Experiences Appearing Real.
Overview
As humans, we’ve also evolved to the stage where almost all of our fears are now self-created. We frighten
ourselves by fantasizing negative outcomes to any activity we might pursue. Luckily, because we are the ones
doing the fantasizing, we are also the ones who can stop the fear by facing the actual facts, rather than giving
in to our imaginations.
Objective
• Participants will realize the ways in which they look into the future and scare themselves with a
fantasy outcome.
Support
PowerPoint slides

Facilitator Observations: Script
Introduce the acronym for “fear” as follows using a whiteboard, flipchart or PowerPoint slide.
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“How Do You Spell FEAR? Almost all fear is: Fantasized Experiences Appearing Real. This
is a useful way to remember what we are doing to ourselves when we are afraid.”
When a student says that he is afraid of something or someone, a helpful intervention can be:
“How are you scaring yourself? What negative outcome are you imagining?”
Then work with what comes up. In the following example, possible interventions are on the left and student
responses are on the right:
FACILITATOR OBSERVATIONS (Participant Responses in Blue)
Facilitator: “Each participant will give a presentation.”
Participant: “I am afraid to give my presentation in front of the room.”
Facilitator: “What are you imagining will happen if you do?”
Participant: “I don’t know.”
(Notice the participant is going into the future and scaring himself with a fantasy of others laughing at him.)
Facilitator: “How many of you are afraid that someone will judge you, or that you will
embarrass yourself?”
Usually most of the hands will go up. Turn to the participant –
Facilitator: “You see, you are not the Lone Ranger!”
As a group, discuss how to create a safe space so that all participants will feel comfortable in presenting.


Facilitator Observations: Script
Occasionally, there is a solid basis for the fear:
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FACILITATOR OBSERVATIONS (Participant Responses in Blue)
Facilitator: “You look upset.”
Participant: “I am afraid that I will not complete my thesis.”
Facilitator: “How are you scaring yourself?”
Participant: “I am imagining that I have not studied enough and I will not complete it.”
Facilitator: “How much have you studied?”
Participant: “Not much.”
Facilitator: “Then your fear may be justified. Let’s create a plan to get you back on track.”
Participant: “Okay."

Hidden Victim Language: Script
“-ed” Words—Hidden Victim Language script
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"Almost all words, which end in “-ed”—for example trapped, overwhelmed, confused—
describe conditions about ourselves which we are actually doing to ourselves—things which
we have control over and can stop.
Using “-ed” words robs us of our power, and makes feelings and circumstances seem to
victimize us. When we change those same “-ed” words to words ending in “ing,” we take
charge of our feelings and circumstances. For example:
I feel scared. = I am scaring myself by imagining.
I feel trapped. = I am trapping myself by inaction and by believing things about
myself that are not true.
I feel depressed. = I am depressing myself by not fully expressing my anger and/or my
sadness about something.
I feel overwhelmed. = I am overwhelming myself by not saying “no,” by not setting
priorities, by not deciding, or by not acting on something.
I feel confused. = I am confusing myself, usually by having two ideas about myself or
something else. One is usually how I or it should be; the other is
how I really am or it really is. (To stop confusing yourself, accept
what is really true.)
I feel frustrated. = I am frustrating myself by thinking people, or things, should be
different from the way they are, or that I should be different from
the way I am.

Stop Scaring Yourself: Exercise Script
Use the following script to teach participants how to stop scaring themselves.
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"Another important aspect to remember about fear is that, as humans, we’ve also evolved
to the stage where almost all of our fears are now self-created. We frighten ourselves by
fantasizing negative outcomes to any activity we might pursue. Luckily, because we are the
ones doing the fantasizing, we are also the ones who can stop the fear by facing the actual
facts, rather than giving in to our imaginations.
To help you better understand how we actually bring unfounded fear into our lives; make a
list of the things you are afraid to do. This is not a list of things you are afraid of, such as
being afraid of spiders, but things you’re afraid to do, such as being afraid to pick up a
spider.
For example, I am afraid to
• Ask my boss for a raise

• Ask Sally out for a date
• Go skydiving
• Leave my kids home alone with a sitter
• Leave this job that I hate
• Ask my friends to look at my new business opportunity
• Delegate any part of my job to others
Now go back and restate each fear using the following format:
I want to __________, and I scare myself by imagining __________.
The key words are I scare myself by imagining. All fear is self-created by imagining some
negative outcome in the future. Can you see that you are the one creating the fear?
In the next exercise, we’re going to replace our stated fears using the same format. The key
words are I scare myself by imagining."

Stop Scaring Yourself: Exercise
I’m Afraid to…I Scare Myself by…
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I'm afraid to _________________________________________________________________________ .
I'd really like to _______________________________________________________________________ ,
and I scare myself by imagining _____________________________________________________ if I did.
I'm afraid to _________________________________________________________________________ .

I'd really like to _______________________________________________________________________ ,
I'm afraid to _________________________________________________________________________ .

I'd really like to _______________________________________________________________________ ,
I'm afraid to _________________________________________________________________________ .

I'd really like to _______________________________________________________________________ ,
I'm afraid to _________________________________________________________________________ .

I'd really like to _______________________________________________________________________ ,
I'm afraid to _________________________________________________________________________ .

I'd really like to _______________________________________________________________________ ,
I'm afraid to _________________________________________________________________________ .

I'd really like to _______________________________________________________________________ ,
I'm afraid to _________________________________________________________________________ .

I'd really like to _______________________________________________________________________ ,
and I scare myself by imagining _____________________________________________ if I did.

Trainer Insights Worksheet: What Did You Learn?
Part 1: Module 13: Experience Your Fear and Take Action Anyway
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□ Practice the Stop Scaring Yourself Exercise □ (Optional) Read Chapter 15 in The Success
□ Watch the Module Video

Principles

From the perspective of a participant:
1. Reflecting on this entire module, what was your most significant learning? (It is important to understand the
impact it has on you before you facilitate it with others.)
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
2. How did this module increase your self-awareness?
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
3. Which activity, demonstration, or exercise provided the most significant learning?
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
4. Why does this matter?
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
5. What difference could this insight make in your life?
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
6. Did you notice any internal blocks that stopped you from fully participating in any of the exercises?
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
7. What, if anything, are you still wondering about?
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________

Trainer Insights Worksheet: What Did You Learn?
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Now thinking like a trainer:

1. How do you think this could affect participants in a workshop?

__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
2. What emotions might come up in a workshop? (resistance, fear, judgment, elation, excitement?) How might
you deal with it?
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
3. Did you notice any internal resistance to any of the exercises, if so, what resistance did you have?
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
4. How might this impact your ability to facilitate this exercise?
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
5. How could you overcome your resistance to effectively facilitate this exercise?
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
6. What parts of the video do you intend to review to deepen your understanding of this module?
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Notes:
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Experience Your Fear and Take Action Anyway 12

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PRINCIPLE 15: EXPERIENCE YOUR FEAR AND

TAKE ACTION ANYWAY

designed to dramatically prove how most of the fear we experience is self-created by

vividly imagined ones.

as fear of flying or fear of the dark.

on-end, and burning.

FACILITATOR OBSERVATIONS (Participant Responses in Blue)

Facilitator: “Each participant will give a presentation.”

Participant: “I am afraid to give my presentation in front of the room.”

Facilitator: “What are you imagining will happen if you do?”

Participant: “I don’t know.”

Usually most of the hands will go up. Turn to the participant –

Facilitator: “You see, you are not the Lone Ranger!”

Participant: “I am afraid that I will not complete my thesis.”

Facilitator: “How are you scaring yourself?”

Facilitator: “How much have you studied?”

Participant: “Not much.”

we have control over and can stop.

charge of our feelings and circumstances. For example:

I feel scared. = I am scaring myself by imagining.

I feel trapped. = I am trapping myself by inaction and by believing things about

myself that are not true.

I feel depressed. = I am depressing myself by not fully expressing my anger and/or my

sadness about something.

I feel overwhelmed. = I am overwhelming myself by not saying “no,” by not setting

priorities, by not deciding, or by not acting on something.

something else. One is usually how I or it should be; the other is

how I really am or it really is. (To stop confusing yourself, accept

what is really true.)

I feel frustrated. = I am frustrating myself by thinking people, or things, should be

the way I am.

facts, rather than giving in to our imaginations.

For example, I am afraid to

• Ask my boss for a raise

I want to __________, and I scare myself by imagining __________.

words are I scare myself by imagining."

I'm afraid to _________________________________________________________________________ .

I'm afraid to _________________________________________________________________________ .

I'm afraid to _________________________________________________________________________ .

I'm afraid to _________________________________________________________________________ .

I'm afraid to _________________________________________________________________________ .

I'm afraid to _________________________________________________________________________ .

I'm afraid to _________________________________________________________________________ .

□ Watch the Module Video

1. How do you think this could affect participants in a workshop?

Experience Your Fear and Take Action Anyway 12

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I want to , and I scare myself by imagining .