Challenging Fear: Taking on Michelle Poler’s 100 Day Challenge
Inspired by Michelle Poler’s Ted Talk “100 days without fear”, I decided I wanted to face my personal fears too. I wanted to start the challenge right then and there. I immediately made a list of possible challenges and was eager to take on my first fear the next day.
That was about three years ago. I’ve been putting it off for a really long time now. I told myself it was “too inconvenient” or “I wouldn’t have enough time to commit to the challenge”. But it was always there in the back of my mind and I was convinced that I would come back to it one day.
And I am coming back to it now.
The fears
I started off by making a list of things I’m afraid of. But as the list grew longer, I got discouraged. I got afraid of the challenge. It’s scary to face your fears, especially if you’ve managed to find a way to avoid situations that frighten you. Even more so because I have found a cozy place in my comfort zone, ready to stay there forever.
However, I don’t want to keep avoiding possible opportunities (to meet new people, to have fun, an exciting career) just because I’ve internalized beliefs that are holding me back. I want to be able to do anything I want, without my own head being the biggest obstacle.
The plan
I looked into Michelle Poler’s blog to see how she went about the challenge. (She has documented her journey beautifully, you can check it out here.) Then I made some tweaks and customizations (since I’m obviously not struggling with the exact same fears and facing one every single day is still inconvenient).
Finally: I’m committing to 100 days without fear. But it doesn’t have to be 100 days in a row. I will take days off sometimes, if I’m not feeling well or can’t come up with a challenge.
The challenges
I will link all the challenges here, so they’re all in one place for convenience.
