3 Things to Help You Conquer Fear
By: Trevor Huffman
Tags: Sports, Fear Of Failure, Confidence, Leadership, Fear

3 Things to Help You Conquer Fear

In Sports, Business, and Life

Fear is something I’ve experienced in pro sports, business, and life.

Days and games when I danced without fear, I played college and pro basketball wonderfully. Or now, I write magic like “Gandolf the White” (says no one). When I erase doubt, I speak succinctly, I breathe, and I execute the rules of winning and stick to them.

But the process of going pro in basketball taught me different approaches to conquering my fears. I wasn’t special, wasn’t immune to fear and nervousness. In front of people, I constantly felt (feel) sick to my stomach. I’d have panic attacks night before big games. I built a wall around my mind and lived there.

But my love for basketball forced me to confront my demons. And so, I conditioned myself to “dance” with a ball in my hands, day in and day out. In front of crowds. Alone in gyms unseen to any spectators. The practice of dancing and simulating real games was a key to learning how to turn the “fear” switch off and go into a flow state.

I’ll tell you more on how I beat the fear thing later (especially memorize thing #2). Right now, I want to talk about what fear is.

Merriam-Webster defines fear as “an unpleasant often strong emotion caused by anticipation or awareness of danger.”

Fight or flight — the innate response or anticipation our bodies are wired to make when we feel threatened, or scared, or under pressure. We anticipate fear and therefore, it becomes real. In our big moments, fear is just the anticipation of caring too much about what others think. This is why fear is usually just an illusion. An abstraction. We believe it to be true because we believe it in our minds. There is really no fear when you are alone giving the speech, shooting the game winning shot, or making the pitch alone.

We anticipate fear rather than just play. We get stuck inside the walls of our minds in front of people that won’t remember what we did next week.

Anticipating fear is a bad habit we must learn to beat. The “next play” mentality is how you beat fear.

The best basketball players in the world always forget their mistakes and focus on the next play. Believe me when I say your failure will not be remembered unless you choose to be the one to remember it — you aren’t that special.

To expect perfection in an imperfect life is silly (so stop being silly, silly).

Fear thrives in social media comparisons while perfectionism is slitting your best effort’s throat and letting you bleed out.

Stop caring what others think about your effort. Go all out and let your chips fall like Rocky fighting Drago. Just make sure you wear head protection.

The truth is, five years from now, the only thing you’ll remember is your regrets. Not taking the chance. The tepid plays. The shrinking.

Eric the Preacher said, when success matters to you as much as breathing does, you will have no choice but to succeed.

I still get the panic tingles, feel the anxiousness and pressure, my nerves taut like piano wire. Know this tension is part of being human. Fear is and will always be hard to deal with, but the love of the game (enter your craft or passion) and the competition always push us over the precipice of fear through action.

Let’s get to some strategies for beating fear.

Write down three things that create fear in you (that won’t physically hurt you).

Here are mine:

1.__________Hand Holding in Public______

2.________Sketch Improv________

3._______Being on Facebook Live_________

Then go move through them and make the habit of doing them every day. Slowly at first. Maybe invite someone to watch your standup. Or read your piece. Or watch you shoot. Or listen to you talk or sing or play at open-mic night. Your biggest fears are typically your biggest hurdles to growth, happiness, and purpose.

I used to be scared shitless to go ask older, better players to play me in one on one. My dad would make me go. After years and years of practice, I learned how to move through the fear and just do it.

“You wanna play one on one?”

That question used to cause me nightmares, now I laugh at the notion of fear holding me back from practicing something I love.

Here are there three formulas I’ve created to help you conquer fear on and off the basketball court.

1. Breath + Intentional action = Fear Busting Practice 2. High standards of habits (hard to do) + Consistently high intensity effort (hard to do)= Makes the Flow State (easy to do) 3. Whenever you are about to shit the bed, just remind yourself: “Just play. This is just a game.”

Fear cannot co-exist in action, all-out effort, and breath.

Fear is something we all feel. But when we want to develop something, our future success, our crafts, our passion, our purpose, or practice, then expressing yourself will matter just as much as breathing will.

This is when you will go in the dark scary cave and do the deed day after day. The treasure won’t come right at first, but you’ll move through fear and beat it and that is a treasure in itself.