Fear is a big inhibitor for picking your path and creating your future. You come to a fork in the road. In one direction the path is pretty clear. Other people have traveled it before, and you know sooner or later you’ll come to a nice clearing where you can be comfortable. The other path, the path less traveled (thanks, Robert Frost), hasn’t been traversed enough to show you the way. There are a lot of unknowns, and you don’t know exactly what the outcome will be. It’s scary to deal with the unknown, but if you truly want to find your path, you have to take it.
“It Will Work Out”
Basically anytime I come to a fork in the road, I throw fear aside and approach it with an “it will work out” mentality. There’s a really good Q&A section in Four-Hour Workweek where Tim Ferris outlines how to go about making big decisions we’re fearful of making. It’s a seven-step approach to outlining our biggest fears, what they would look like if they came true, and to let go of fear, “it will work out.”
Although it’s nice to have the “it will work out” mentality, it also requires a genuine understanding of self-worth and self-reliance. Throwing fear aside and yelling “It will work out!” isn’t going to cut it. There’s still a lot of work that goes into finding your path by building yourself up to the point where you believe in yourself, and your capabilities to execute.
The Sleep in Your Car Test
Praxis calls this The Sleep in Your Car Test. Basically, who has the desire, self-confidence, and belief in themselves to choose the unknown path. The people who want to travel the path less traveled are the ones who understand life isn’t a guarantee, and they are the only ones who can live life their way.
The world is awash in guarantees. Those who seek guarantees, and worse those who trust them, are not the sleep in your car type. The reality is that there are no guarantees. There are only varying degrees of probability. And the things with the highest probability of leading you to a life identical to the crowd’s idea of success are often those with the lowest probability of leading you to being fully alive.
People who can pass the sleep in your car test are the people who understand that the unknown path may induce fear, but the guaranteed outcome won’t be fulfilling. “It’s not fearlessness – we’re all afraid – but the way in which fear isn’t treated as an insurmountable obstacle, but a game.”
Living Free
You will never be able to live free if you don’t take risks. Part of personal growth and self-belief comes from taking the unknown path to see where it goes. The “it will work out” approach is about taking your confidence and determination to push yourself into the unknown. Taking the unknown path is a risk. Even if you’re afraid, with enough hard work and tenacity, the right path will show itself. Living free can only be accomplished by forging your own trail, not following the footsteps to guarantees.