How often do you hold back on your dreams simply because you’re not sure if they’re possible?
Maybe you feel like your goals are too ambitious, too risky, too improbable.
But I don’t buy it.
I think what you’re really saying is that you’re scared.
You're afraid of:
- 😥 What it would mean if you failed.
- 🏆 Not knowing what success could bring.
- ⏳ Wasting time on something you might abandon.
- 🤕 Discovering and exposing your weaknesses.
- 🤷 Change, uncertainty, and the unknown.
Listen:
Feeling fear is normal - and valid.
But when left unchecked, fear can be paralyzing.
But I’d like to share a different perspective with you.
Because with the right frame of mind, you can actually use fear to your advantage.
How?
By using the one fear I find more powerful than all of the fears I listed above combined:
The fear of regret.
I’m reminded of this quote from Inception:
Sure - Saito’s got a pretty extreme take on the consequences of not taking action.
But when you read that line, how does it make you feel?
Can you feel the urgency to action it creates?
This is how we’ll transform your relationship to fear.
See...
Most of us let fear dominate our decision-making in a way that doesn’t serve our dreams and aspirations.
But by using fear as a tool, we can change that.
As Tony Robbins shares in his Personal Power tapes, humans are driven by two primary forces:
- ✅ The pursuit of pleasure
- ❌ The avoidance of pain
But interestingly, given the choice between the two…
Humans focus more on avoiding pain than they do pursuing pleasure.
And we can use this info to our advantage.
How?
By using our fear to push us forward.
Clinical psychologist Jordan Peterson states:
"You want to get your fear behind you where it's pushing you forward instead of in front of you where it's stopping you."
So...
By re-framing what we’re afraid of, we can use pain avoidance to push us forward.
Instead of thinking about the consequences of failure, struggle, weakness, or insecurity…
We can shift our attention to the fear of:
- ❤️🩹 Never doing what we’re meant to do
- 🫣 Never taking a risk
- 🌎 Never sharing our art with the world.
And those fears won't hold you back.
They'll become fuel to your fire.
👋 Ready for more?
When you're ready, here's 4 ways I can help:
- 🎥 My YouTube. Watch 350+ videos including music tutorials, career tips, and more.
- 🗞️ The Newsletter Archive. Read articles from previous weeks of this newsletter.
- 🎬 Composing Career Bootcamp. Join my 6-week cohort-based course to learn how to land paid composing work from anywhere in the world. (100+ students, 5 stars)
- 👋 Work Directly with Me. I'm offering private mentorship to a handful of select media composers. If you're interested, click the link to apply.
That's all for now!
Hit reply to share your thoughts, questions, or just to say hi.
(I love hearing from my readers. 🙂)
Otherwise, happy music-making and I'll see you next Tuesday!
- Zach
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