Fae Tools

Jonathan Fields wrote an amazing book called Uncertainty: Turning Fear and Doubt into Fuel for Brilliance.

Key Insights

Here are some of his key insights.

Memento Mori

Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart. — Steve Jobs, 2005 Stanford commencement

The old saying memento mori means “remember that you have to die” and is important to keep in mind.

Your life might be uncertain but in the end, your problems pale in comparison with the bigger picture.

Life is short, so live it to the fullest and focus on your greater purpose, the reason why you were put on this earth.

Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all. — Helen Keller

What Are You Focusing On?

Oftentimes it comes down to focus.

If you show people a video of people playing basketball and ask them to count how often the players pass the ball, they will absolutely miss…

Well, just watch this video:

So there are a lot of

• things we don’t notice,
• questions we don’t ask and
• things we don’t see.

Types of Fear

There are several types of fears.

There is the fear of failure, of judgment — even of success!

People who have a fear of failure build up this doomsday scenario in their head: They keep imagining a whole (unrealistic) scenario of what could go wrong.

This type of fear can also lead to belief paralysis: The more we repeat something in our heads, the more we believe it.

Questions to Help With Fear

Ask yourself and write about the following questions:

• What if I fail and recover?
• What if I do nothing?
• What if I succeed?

The more you think about these questions, the less impact fear will have on you.

For example, what if you do nothing? Well, in life you go either up or down. If you do nothing, your quality of life tends to decrease. Life applies friction and part of life is dealing with that friction.

Also, what if you teach that to your children? Is that really a good life philosophy?

And what if you succeed? Try it out! Imagine what it will feel like, taste like? Thinking about success will help you not be afraid of the perceived negative sides of it.

So that’s my short summary of the key insights I got from Uncertainty: Turning Fear and Doubt into Fuel for Brilliance.