Fear Itself
I was making a joke.
The one you roll out when you really want to make your guest laugh.
You can hear it early in my podcast episode with Seth Godin which you can find below at around the 12th minute.
Seth lives in NYC — my old stomping ground.
For those of you who are Seinfeld fans, you might remember the infamous “shrinkage” episode.
So, here I was, explaining our business and I shared how we see ourselves as fear fighters.
Then came the joke where I mentioned the “fear shrinkage” business.
While I was looking for a smile, Seth was looking to bring clarity on the topic to the listener.
Here was his response:
“You talk about shrinkage and it’s one of the greatest (Seinfeld) episodes along with the Marble Rye. I am not trying to shrink the fear. In New York, the Fire Department is called, “New York’s Bravest”. And bravery can lead to tragedy because you run into a building that’s burning without thinking about your fear. Courage means that you know that the fear is there, and you are dancing with it, but you are not trying to make the fear go away.”
He continued on to share…
We shouldn’t try to make the fear go away because, when we do, the fear gets bigger.
Instead, try to make the fear bigger so you can live inside of it.
In the spirit of not giving away any more from our episode, feel free to listen when you can. It’s full of deeply thoughtful moments that force us to think about life as we thought we knew it.
This Godinism further affirmed my feelings about the word “fearless”.
I don’t want you to be fearless;
I want you to “fear more”.
As Seth reminds us…
Dance with fear.
Learn to live with fear.
Treat it like the roommate it is.
Next time you’re tempted to run, lean in, embrace it, and see where the music takes you.
Seth’s new book, “This Is Strategy” comes out next week. Preorder it here.
