Mastering Fear: A Navy SEAL’s Guide by Brandon Webb
Brandon Webb has run life-threatening missions in the world’s worst trouble spots, whether that meant jumping out of airplanes, taking down hostile ships on the open sea, or rolling prisoners in the dead of night in the mountains of Afghanistan. As a Navy SEAL, he learned how to manage the natural impulse to panic in the face of terrifying situations. As media CEO and national television commentator, he has learned how to apply those same skills in civilian life.
Drawing on his experiences in combat and business, along with colorful anecdotes from his vast network of super-achiever friends from astronauts to billionaires, Webb shows how people from all walks of life can stretch and transcend their boundaries and learn to use their fears as fuel to achieve more than they ever thought possible. “Fear can be a set of manacles, holding you prisoner,” writes Webb. “Or it can be a slingshot, catapulting you on to greatness.”
The key, says Webb, is not to fight fear or try to beat it back, but to embrace and harness it. In the process, rather than being your adversary, your fear becomes a secret weapon that allows you to triumph in even the most adverse situations. In Mastering Fear, Webb and his bestselling coauthor John David Mann break this transformation down into five practical steps, creating a must-read manual for anyone looking for greater courage and mastery in their lives.
Though I haven’t been keeping up with my weekly Week in Review updates, consider this a mini one wrapped up in a book review.
Up until August I was sailing along. And I mean sailing. Everything was great, nothing was too hard.
And then August happened and I got so damn busy. I also realized I didn’t take my business plan out far enough. That niggling fear I I had that my 2-year plan was on track to collapse into a 6-month plan, became a 4-month plan. And oh boy, did I have to make a lot of decisions quickly.
And I’m still making decisions quickly, hoping they are the right ones. And if they aren’t the right ones, well hopefully they’re pretty fixable.
I picked this book up in the midst of one of the few afternoons I’ve had off lately. I was at the Amazon bookstore, which I actually really like if I just need a book and not something in particular. Because everything they stock is highly reviewed so you can be pretty sure if the book sounds good, you’ll probably like it.
Anyway. I was looking at the self-improvement and business books and when I saw the title, I knew I had to buy it. Because if there is one thing I have been trying to strongarm into place, it’s my fear.
If there’s any advice I can give to would-be entrepreneurs at this point in my journey, it’s that every day is really about your mindset and shoving yourself back in line when your fears, your desires, and your ego are trying to take over. Entrepreneurship (at least for me) requires a level of cool, unconcerned detachment. And that is not a level I naturally operate at.
So anyway, a book about mastering fear sounded like something I needed to buy and read. The fact that it was written by a Navy SEAL sold me on it.
I really liked this book and thought it was helpful. It’s one of those books that kind of pulls together all the things you know on some level and packages it up into an easy-to-read guide. I know all these things; I just need someone else to tell me in a way that will hopefully stick.
The writing style is very conversational. I don’t know the author, but I feel like I know him after reading the book. He reminds me of a few of the more charismatic military guys I’ve met. Which means he kills it at the motivational speaking.
This is a pretty short book so I won’t summarize it too much since you should just go and read it. But I do want to share the one point that has really stuck with me: the story you’re making up about the thing you’re afraid of is almost always worse than the reality.
I feel like this is true. I’ve seen it be true in my own life. So as I keep plunging forward and heading for new horizons, I’ll keep reminding myself of that.
