Fear-Setting

A one-page worksheet for the decision you keep avoiding out of fear — Seneca's premeditatio malorum by way of Tim Ferriss. Name the action, then work each worst case across three columns: Define it in full, Prevent it by lowering the odds, Repair it if it happens anyway. Weigh all of that against the quiet cost of doing nothing — in six months, a year, three years — then commit to the smallest step you'll take regardless. We suffer more in imagination than in reality; naming the worst on paper shrinks it to its real size. Leave any row blank to work out by hand.

Best for: Talking yourself into a decision fear has you avoiding.
Badge: Composed

A still life that evokes the Fear-Setting

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Composed printable

Name the worst case, on paper.

Most fears never survive contact with a pen. Take the decision you've been avoiding, spell out each worst case, then work it across three columns — how you'd prevent it, and how you'd repair it if it happened anyway. Weigh that against the quiet cost of doing nothing.

How it works

The action — the decision you keep putting off out of fear.
Define · Prevent · Repair — one worst case per line as define | prevent | repair; up to 4.
The cost of doing nothing — what staying put costs you in 6 months, a year, three years.
The smallest step — the tiny move you'll make anyway.

Portrait, one page. Leave any row blank to work it out by hand.

Not sure where to start?