Why you should define your fears instead of your goals

Key notes

What to take away.

1. 01
   Focus on what you can control

   Stoicism trains you to separate what you can control from what you can't, and to act on the first.

2. 02
   Define your worst cases

   Write down 10 to 20 things you fear could go wrong if you take the step you're avoiding.

3. 03
   Prevent and repair

   For each fear, note what you could do to make it less likely, and how you could fix things if it happens.

4. 04
   Count the benefits

   Ask what you might gain from even trying or partly succeeding.

5. 05
   Don't forget the cost of doing nothing

   Picture your life in six months, a year and three years if nothing changes.

6. 06
   Hard choices, easy life

   The things we most fear doing are often exactly what we most need to do.