First step : Apply the Law of Average
Applying the Law of Average means taking an overview of factual data related to your fear. Let us see some examples:
1. A person used to fear traveling by train because of the possibility of an accident. What does the Law of Average say ? How many times do trains run between Pune and Mumbai in a year ?- Say about 10,000 trains.
How many accidents take place in a year?
- Two, three or five.
- 5 out of 10,000. That is 0.05% .
In contrast, when a farmer ploughs his field, there is about 50% possibility of no rain, less rain or too much rain. Yet he ploughs his field. Should one then spoil his journey fearing something that has only a 0.05% possibility of occurring? 2. A student used to fear failure in exams.
What does the Law of Average say?How many exams has that student taken till now?
- Say about 100.
Though he has felt this fear of failure before each of those exams, how many times has he actually failed?
- Never. But let us suppose that he has failed once.
What is the probability of his failing this time?
- 0% or just 1%.
If there is just a one percent possibility of failing, then why fear? As mentioned earlier, fear of exam to the extent that it helps the student concentrate better, is good. Only when it becomes too much, it needs to be tackled.
4. A woman used to fear lightning.
What does the Law of Average say?
How many people are there in your city?
What is the percentage chance of your getting hit by lightning this year?
It works out to be something like 0.0000001%. Why should she then live in constant fear of lightning?
In the above examples, 99% of incidents feared, usually do not occur at all. Those who use the law of average to free themselves of their fears gain courage, confidence and consequent happiness.
Second step : Rational/Logical thinkingWe all have intellect, but we don’t always use it. Fear in many situations can be overcome by simple use of Common Sense and Rational Thinking.
A man was going for an interview. He was mortally afraid. In this situation, let us see how he can get over his fears by using his Rational Thinking (RT).
Rational Thinking (RT) : Are you going there to beg them of something?Interviewee (IW) : No, I am going there in response to their advertisement for a job in the newspapers.
RT : If you don’t perform well, are they going to beat you up? IW : No. They will not touch me.
RT : So, the worst that can happen is that you will not get the job you never had and you will still gain the useful experience of having attended this interview. So, what are you afraid of?
Thus, we must employ our intellect and wisdom in everyday situations to keep fear at bay.You can use rational thinking to overcome most fears. Say, you are afraid of cockroaches. These are the common sense questions you need to ask yourself:
What harm can this small creature do to me?
Can it bite me or hurt me in any way?
Can I kill it easily if I so decide?
To apply rational thinking to overcome job insecurity, tell yourself that if you are doing your job wholeheartedly, nothing can happen to you. Besides getting salary, you are acquiring knowledge, experience and skills (technical, communication and others). Your boss can dismiss you from your job, but he cannot take away all of these from you.
Third step : Internal guidance - IntuitionWe sometimes get a hunch that a particular person will meet me today. Our mind tells us that he is too far away to meet. Our intuition proves right and he does meet or call us.
We sometimes choose one out of many options based not on factual data but on our inner gut feeling and that choice proves to be correct. This is intuition power. We all have it.
How do birds fly away even before an impending mishap is to occur? It is intuition that guides them. In the Himalayan region, just one month before the start of snowfall, birds start flying towards the warmer regions. The most advanced of instruments fail to predict the advent of snowfall correctly. But these birds are never wrong. Who is guiding them? It is intuition. The question is do we humans have the same guiding power within us?
Intuition means tuition from within. Our Intuition is perpetually guiding us. It keeps telling us...What is harmful for us, what is not.
Who is a friend, who is not.
Where is danger and where it is not.
...and so on.
Most of us do not cultivate this power. If we do so and also develop faith in it, it has the ability to give us correct guidance at every step. This tuition never goes wrong. Learn to listen and trust this soft voice from within.
What is important is to have faith on your intuition.
Some people watch horror shows on television and get frightened. They then fear entering a dark room thinking that there may be someone. In such cases it is necessary to tell ourselves that if there is really any danger in the room, our intuition will tell us so... provided we are listening and have learnt to trust it.
Man is so engrossed with his external (outer world) activities that he has lost touch with his intuition (inner world). This chapter is a wake up call. It is a reminder of an already existing wonderful power within us. We have to know it by experience – through listening and observation. If we do that, we realize that the source of power is within us.
Our every step is being guided from within. We have to develop faith that timely guidance comes from within when needed. Once we get tuned to our inner guidance, we will not have any fear. If at all a danger approaches us, our intuition will forewarn us.
Once in a while, do ask yourself, “What is my aim in life?” Your intuition will give you the answer. There are very few who are working towards their aim in life with full understanding and awareness. In today’s fast paced life, one tends to live mechanically. One must therefore repeatedly ask oneself the above question. The answer will definitely come and this answer is of utmost importance.
‘Law of Average’ managedSoon after the World Trade Center incident, a businessman was to fly his family to USA to attend his son’s wedding. He was dead scared. He approached his scientist friend and asked him,
“What are the chances that someone in my plane will be carrying a bomb?” His scientist friend told, “About one in hundred.”
“Oh! That’s too high a chance. I can’t travel. I will ask my son to postpone his wedding.”
The businessman consulted his scientist friend during the successive months and every time decided to postpone his son’s wedding.
Finally, on receiving an ultimatum from his son, exasperated and desperate, he consulted his friend yet again. “Have the chances improved?”
“ Yes, it is now one in two hundred.”“Oh! It is still too risky. Look, what is the use of your being a scientist? You have to tell me a way to improve the chances.”
Challenged, the scientist thought hard.“There is a way.” he said. The businessman looked up with hope. “You carry a bomb yourself. The chance of two persons carrying bombs in the same flight is only one in 40,000.”