Fear, doubt and local max

Seth Godin has a nice post called, "Understanding Local Max," that does a good job of capturing the inherent peaks and valleys one must traverse to achieve breakout success. 

His timing is ironic because I was working on a short post about an axiom that coincides directly with what he is talking about. The axiom is: never confuse fear with doubt.

Why?  Fear can be a natural response to negotiating a treacherous climb. Absence of healthy fear, leads to not being prepared, which unfortunately often leads to death.

Doubt, on the other hand, is a formal belief that there may not be light at the end of the tunnel.

One is all about preparation (preparing the mind to work through fear, readying yourself to successfully negotiate the path).

The other is all about pragmatism (seeing things as they really are).

Never confuse fear with doubt, or vice versa.

Comments

[John "Z-Bo" Zabroski]

RE: "Absence of healthy fear, leads to not being prepared, which unfortunately often leads to death."

I cannot relate. People know me as a fearless person. Opposing the hostile environment, i.e., a treacherous climb, must be done through the exercise of free will. Fear and responsibility for the consequences of one's actions are actually diametrically opposed ideas. Fear robs authenticity in decision-making. Fear is just another one of my would-be persuaders who does not talk in terms of what I want and how to get it...

I don't buy into doubt either. Doubt is a substrate of despair. Maybe I am an overly-uppity and optimistic person , but Hope and Responsibility would be my axiom.

My friend is a professional poker player. According to him, what is the most important concept with in regards to tournament poker? Freerolling. Being the aggressor and taking the small pots to build a chip cushion so that you can gamble in pots where you are *knowingly* taking the worst of it.

[Brad Webb]

Just to touch on the Poker analogy... freerolling is, of course, free entrance. Free = no risk = lack of *healthy* fear. So I'm not sure how that exactly relates?

Of course, as I write this, my roommate is finishing up his daily dose of 5-10. :)

[Mark Sigal]

I would disagree with you John. The greatest climbers have a healthy fear and respect for all the things that can go wrong. Probably every serious climber has read Into Thin Air, which if nothing else captures the fear the professional face in the death zone, the fear they face in terms of the amateurs they are taking with them having something go wrong, etc.

Still, different strokes for different folks. If can claim that you exercise effectively without any fear or doubt in your daily endeavors, more power to it.

[John "Z-Bo" Zabroski]

Brad, I think you answered your own question. Think it over. There is no such thing as "healthy" fear in poker. The cards are going to fall the way they are going to fall. Just to play the chips the best possible. Keep in mind we are talking about poker players. Pro Poker desensitizes people to a lot of things, including money.

Mark, I understand the point of your axiom and I think there is nothing wrong with your point-of-view. I am simply saying I cannot relate. Exceptions reinforce rules because rules by definition are what should happen most of the time. Exceptions are exceptional and so tend to strengthen the rule. Also, I think I was a bit wordy and wrote lofty in my previous reply so forgive my convolutedness.

Also, I will have to buy Into Thin Air now :-D

[Max]

I totally agree with you