Choose Fear

I don’t agree with everything Tim Ferriss puts out into the world, nor am I the biggest fan of TED Talks in general, but this 13-minute monologue on why you should define your fears instead of your goals is worth watching at some point today.

“The hard choices — what we most fear doing, asking, saying—these are very often exactly what we most need to do,” Ferriss says. “And the biggest challenges and problems we face will never be solved with comfortable conversations, whether it’s in your own head or with other people.”

In other words, get comfortable with being uncomfortable. And while this isn’t a novel recommendation or profound revelation, I’ve certainly found it to hold true when it came to making meaningful progress in just about any area of my life.

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A version of this post first appeared in the morning shakeout, my weekly email newsletter covering running, writing, media and other topics that interest me. If you’d like for it to land in your inbox first thing on Tuesday mornings, subscribe here.