ABOUT RACHEL, THE FEAR-TAMER
I would love to say the origin of Hacking Fears was the culmination of neuropsychology during my time as a life sciences Chief Strategy Officer, out-of-box thinking as a Google executive, and bold stage presence as an international improv comedian. Don’t get me wrong. Those experiences certainly inform the science, business practicality, and real-life application of Hacking Fears workshops.
Instead, Hacking Fears was born out of necessity. What I learned from Corporate America, Silicon Valley, international stages, and a decade as a competitive athlete: the biggest determinant of success — whether called ‘confidence,’ ‘grit,’ or even ‘optimism’ — is your ability to control fear. If you can’t make high-risk decisions or hustle revenues today, imagine your life as a CEO tomorrow. You would show up to work every day worried a single bad move could wipe out billions of dollars, the disastrous exploits landing on the Wall Street Journal front page. If professional athletes are mentally trained to ‘stay in the zone’ during games, how can we ordinary mortals mentally train ourselves to hack fear in work and life?
I used to think I was fearless in leaving my last job to pursue my life dream of starting a company. That’s how all my ex-coworkers described me when they divulged they secretly wished they had the balls to do the same. The irony of pursuing my life goal was that fear just became a bigger part of my life. By leaving a cushy corporate career to jump into the dark abyss of entrepreneurship, I soon realized starting a startup was, above all else, a complete mental game. And the overpowering psychological game you are constantly playing with yourself is taming fear.
Thus, years ago, I started doing all sorts of things that scared the heck out of me. It was both terrible and awesome, and led me to some of my favorite life achievements:
- Moving to the other side of the world: Born and raised in California, I was offered a job in China. I feared I would be lonely, culture shocked, and sick from the air pollution. All the above happened. But, this is what also happened: I had so many amazing life experiences, I published a book about my 4 years living in China and was consequently asked by Columbia Business School to be a guest lecturer.
- Stand-up comedy: I had always wanted to do improv comedy. I took my first improv class in China, fearing I would really suck at it. On my first day, the class gave me a solo assignment: to rap in Mandarin. I was as terrible as that sounds, but I kept practicing. Years later, I was on stage at NYC’s Upright Citizen’s Brigade and an almost TED speaker (that’s another story…).
- Selling stuff to strangers: I finally quit my job as a Chief Strategy Officer at a major healthcare company to follow my dream of starting my own company. I feared I would fail miserably and go broke. Well, I almost did go broke; everyone loved the product, but nobody was paying for it. I realized I was a terrible salesperson. I decided to learn sales the old-fashioned way: by setting up a lemonade stand on the streets of New York and getting over my fear of selling to complete strangers. I also sold anything else I could think of, including a service to vacationing Manhattanites to babysit their dogs, cats, or plants in exchange for living in their apartments in their absence. And that’s how I drastically extended my ‘startup runway’ and lived in NYC for 5 months for free.
And then, I realized people around the world were shackled by fear, too. The consequence: not asking for more money from their boss or customers, not gaining audience confidence during a critical presentation, or even not pursuing that life goal. And I realized, while the world’s most successful people are described as ‘highly confident,’ what they really have is an ability to control fear better than the rest of us.
I started hosting Hacking Fears workshops across the country, from San Francisco to New York. The event description: “Join us on a fun, enlightening, and inspiring event on hacking fear. We start with a lecture on the science of fear and the steps to overcome it. Then, we put all the steps into ACTION so you don’t simply understand fearlessness, you become it. We build your confidence through live activities that scare the heck out of you: doing standup comedy, selling things to strangers, or finally drafting the business plan of your entrepreneurial dream. By the end of the workshop, you will accomplish something that pushed past your own fears and helped you build new confidence. Come alone or with colleagues to this unique experience as we build new accountability bonds so your newfound fearlessness becomes everlasting.”
The feedback was phenomenal. Companies asked for Hacking Fears workshops for their salespeople. CEOs wanted to unlock bold innovation across the C-Suite. And everyday people just simply wanted to finally achieve their goals.
How will Hacking Fears help you? I can’t wait to find out.
Hack fear. Stay inspired. Join us.
hackingfears.com 