Replacing fear
I think Nate Soares’ Replacing Guilt series is amazing; I know many people who have been inspired by it. Many of the concepts in it are ones which I wholeheartedly endorse. But it’s very much a product of Nate’s mind, and my mind is shaped a little differently. In particular, guilt has never been a deep or visceral emotion for me. Instead, the more fundamental negative emotion which holds me (and, I expect, many other people) back is fear. So I’m trying my own hand at answering the question of how to live a better life—specifically, by replacing fear.
As a warning: in this sequence I make many claims about psychology which I don’t defend in much detail, nor provide much evidence for. I’m primarily trying to convey my opinions rather than justify them; indeed, since they're mostly based on my own experiences, it'd be hard for me to rigorously justify them if I tried. And so you definitely shouldn’t take my word for any of this—but I think these ideas are important enough that it’s at least worth checking if they work for you (while remembering, of course, the law of equal and opposite advice: some people should be doing the exact opposite of what I recommend).
The sequence is dived into three parts (each containing four posts). The first part introduces fear-based motivation, explains why I think it's so fundamental, and contrasts it with excitement-based motivation. The second part discusses how to overcome fear by building self-trust. The third focuses on how to cultivate excitement-based motivation, and some pitfalls to watch out for. My current plan is to upload one post a day from now until near the end of May.