Why am I so scared in life ? ( Need advice)

Spyce D

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I have unhealthy amount of anxiety in my life . Whether it's related to career , approaching women , fighting , sports whatsoever and it's eating me up .

I feel less of a man because of this .

Because of this i haven't take any substantive action in my life ( mostly half assed everything) .

Everything feels so chore and emotionally draining and I feel a punch in my stomach when I see others taking up the opportunities i missed because of my fears .

Because of these fears i have also indulged into escapism ( so as to numb the pain of missing opportunities out of fear)

Even though i have approached women in the past but now I feel frozen and my legs shake when doing ca . Same is in career , i can't really focus because of all the whatifs that come in my mind .

Fuck man , i can't live with this fear so any advice would be appreciated.
 

DarkKnight

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We ofcourse need to know more, but one thing is for sure, binging on porn/fapping can make one much more anxious. Perhaps this is one of the causes? You do not need to answer this publicly ofcourse, but it is a pretty big gamechanger.
 

James D

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What you need, my friend, is courage.

Courage is not the absence of fear.

Being courageous means you feel the fear, intense, traumatizing fear, but you show up anyway.

Show up my friend.

Just show up.

Show up with all the whatifs, fears, hesitations, insecurities.

And figure it out as you push forward.

You got this man.
 

Spyce D

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We ofcourse need to know more, but one thing is for sure, binging on porn/fapping can make one much more anxious. Perhaps this is one of the causes? You do not need to answer this publicly ofcourse, but it is a pretty big gamechanger.
Well i am still recovering from years of porn addiction , am still sort of interenet addict.

Had school bullying experiences where I was labeled as ' ladies' , ' female ' because I was the only fair skinned in the class.
 

DarkKnight

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Well i am still recovering from years of porn addiction , am still sort of interenet addict.
On the chat accountability room, guys are keeping track of nofap, perhaps you could join (they are still a bunch of perverts though because on the other chat they are talking about Abella Danger all the time lol! ( I joke I joke.. kind of an insider joke ))

But on the chat we also kinda have this low key brotherhood thing going on so when you have minor worries we can help you and push in the right direction. And yeah.. to be honest seems like there is some work to be done with you with the bullying background and such. But everything can be done with a little bit of willpower..
 

Spyce D

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On the chat accountability room, guys are keeping track of nofap, perhaps you could join (they are still a bunch of perverts though because on the other chat they are talking about Abella Danger all the time lol! ( I joke I joke.. kind of an insider joke ))

But on the chat we also kinda have this low key brotherhood thing going on so when you have minor worries we can help you and push in the right direction. And yeah.. to be honest seems like there is some work to be done with you with the bullying background and such. But everything can be done with a little bit of willpower..
Thanks for your advice .....but what work should be done with the bullying background , i don't know ?
 

Spyce D

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What you need, my friend, is courage.

Courage is not the absence of fear.

Being courageous means you feel the fear, intense, traumatizing fear, but you show up anyway.

Show up my friend.

Just show up.

Show up with all the whatifs, fears, hesitations, insecurities.

And figure it out as you push forward.

You got this man.
Thanks for the advice , man
 

Don Giovanni

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I’m anxious by nature and I’ve learned to live with it sticking to exactly what @James D said. With time you’ll also get desensetized and gets more managable (I used to get panick attacks). Now sometimes it’s kinda fun to get some anxiety, makes it more… engageing.

Everyone gets anxiety though. Everyone is anxious socializing sometimes. Some people are more sensitive then others.

Addiction is a way of coping with your anxieties. You feel warm inside, you feel loved, or at least numb when you binge whatever addiction you have. I used to binge drink. But dealing with addiction is a whole other subject. Like @DarkKnight said, accountabillity will help massively.

This post is mainly me empathizing with your situation. Practical solution would be to stop being a pussy, become self accountable, learn to love the fear and see a therapist maybe…

Good luck!
 

ElderPrice

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You’re scared in life because you currently have negative, irrational beliefs about yourself and the world you live in.

That’s all there is to it.

It started when you were a child, it went unchallenged, and now feeling the way you do is a habit. That’s why it’s been so hard to change.

Fortunately you recognize it’s a problem and are beginning the journey to fix it.

I recommend a therapist that specializes in anxiety. Or if you’re very disciplined, there are DIY online therapy courses.

Therapy will teach you how to identify the automatic irrational thoughts and beliefs you have, and how to replace them with rational, positive ones. It will also help you break old habits and form new ones.

This path solves the very root of your problem.
 

Glow

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Often the true sources of anxieties can be found in subparts of the area you struggle with.

They often deal with limited perspective on matters, our own ignorances and lack of seeing things knowledgeably.

so figuring out the true nature of sub-anxieties is one key - calls for frank investigation ( takes work) and use of honest friends etc. to get to the depths of it.

Once you find them you can engage their intelligence (more than often they point to important things to address) or realise theyre irrational etc, then apply courage and develop knowledge for a better perspective on this. Makes it more precise. See how your emotional system reacts, breathe with it and let go for it to initiate transformation which has a life of its own.

Beware that they often lie in clusters of various sources aka dont assume youre done prematurely.

Then execute new strategies from there patiently and be compassionate with yourself on the progress. Seek to establish better feedback loops. Gain reference on these new ways and build more field knowledge and understanding in your system.

the new strategies is often about courage but to say courage is too general - consider subcourages such as perseverance, stout heartedness, vigor and the likes and study each separately as a particular type of courage to engage with and understand how to enable for particular issues. What type of courage or courages is needed for each struggle?

take time to feel and breathe and let it all be driven by emotion and intellect in a united fashion. this often means to move slower than what most do.
 
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Will_V

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I have unhealthy amount of anxiety in my life . Whether it's related to career , approaching women , fighting , sports whatsoever and it's eating me up .

I feel less of a man because of this .

Because of this i haven't take any substantive action in my life ( mostly half assed everything) .

Everything feels so chore and emotionally draining and I feel a punch in my stomach when I see others taking up the opportunities i missed because of my fears .

Because of these fears i have also indulged into escapism ( so as to numb the pain of missing opportunities out of fear)

Even though i have approached women in the past but now I feel frozen and my legs shake when doing ca . Same is in career , i can't really focus because of all the whatifs that come in my mind .

Fuck man , i can't live with this fear so any advice would be appreciated.

Anxiety is what happens when you're not doing what you know you should be doing. It's no wonder you have a lot of it if you aren't taking any action.

Just because anxiety is associated with something does not mean that the anxiety is meant to push you away from it, this is crucial. Let me explain.

Anxiety is created by tension, and tension is the difference between a current situation and a projected future situation. This means that you can feel anxiety when the projected future situation is bad (i.e. if it comes about) and anxiety when the projected future situation is good (i.e. it doesn't come about, opportunities that you miss). If you are habitually missing opportunities, especially if reaching a specific opportunity takes many incremental steps and you haven't even started, this creates anxiety in relation to something good.

Also, there may be bad situations that you know you'll not be able to avoid in future, and subconsciously you know must be prepared for, and if you don't prepare, even if it seems far away, you get anxiety. This is why one should never take anxiety at face value, but instead logically investigate its cause.

The cure for anxiety is always the same: action. It does not have to be direct action, it does not have to be a lot of action, but proximate action. Proximate action is doing what the next step is, no matter how small, in regards to solving a problem.

If you have been bullied, as @DarkKnight said, the best thing to do is to begin getting physically stronger and learning how to fight. This can begin with simple steps, such as a morning jog, 100 pushups a day, etc. The goal is to incrementally build physical dominance and capability.

If you are afraid of picking up girls, have more conversations with women in your life, pay more attention to them, try to understand them more. Make small talk with checkout girls, say drive-by hellos to random girls, whatever you can do.

If your own career ambitions create anxiety, do things like getting your resume in order, get a hiring organisation to look at it and tell you what you need to improve, learn some new skill (like taking a copywriting or sales course). Whatever you can do.

The idea is to start small and build slowly, so that the difference between the current situation and the future situation, over time, gets smaller and smaller. It requires maintaining composure, taking care of yourself (health, sleep, meditation, etc), trusting in consistency, encouraging and rewarding yourself regularly, and doing whatever it takes to remain positive and in a good state of mind.

And don't forget to enjoy the journey. Watch yourself grow bit by bit, and feel proud of yourself.
 

Gunwitch

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Misery is wasted on the miserable.

Just be glad you lean to side of anxiety (as do I) vs depression. Been dealing with guys on this stuff for years, more anxious people chemical, wiring, whatever the case can eventually get off thier ass. Either style though it tends to be chemical/wiring not beliefs in my experience. You are gonna feel this way if you are making a million dollars a month and banging bikini models every day man. Your brain will just wrap itself around the feeling and explain it as "now that i've got it all, what if this mole is cancer".

Again you got the lucky side of the coin here, the depressed are other swing of "now that I have it all, why am I so empty and why can't I find a moments happiness?"

My general advice quit worrying, something bad is gonna happen anyway. No that's not a typo, we are just experiencing this life and most everyone is depressed or anxious, the default would be eternal bliss, or mastery of all things. Trying to conquer all this with your mind will never work, medications if severe enough you can't leave your house or something maybe, but definite action to work on whatever you desire is the key. Sitting and thinking, and/or analyzing your beliefs and how your brain wraps itself around/rationalizes the feeling in your body is how you got into this mess in the first place.

Gun
 

Spyce D

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Ok .

So , i have read all your replies for which i am grateful. And as am 23 right now , i have decided to rather fail in the quest of some ' greatness ' rather than just being a benchwarmer that i have been since past 7 years.

I just need some real accountability but everyone around me thinks of me as a quitter , so no one really wants to do it for me . Fuck it !

I don't know what to say anymore but thankyou all .
 

Chase

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Anxiety often has a strong genetic component. It's sort of with you and doesn't truly go fully away.

What you do instead is desensitize yourself to all the things that make you anxious.

I was around your age (a little before 22) when I decided to go full-bore desensitization.

It sucked for a while. One situation after another where I made a complete fool of myself. Eventually you realize most people don't care... they are too worried about themselves to focus on you as much as you focus on you.

You have to go through that mental flip though first -- where you decide that any time there is something that makes you anxious, whatever it is, it requires a direct confrontation, and just immersing yourself in the anxiety until the thing makes you anxious no more.

You have to decide you want to escape the anxiety itself even more than the things you feel anxious about for this to work.

I just need some real accountability but everyone around me thinks of me as a quitter , so no one really wants to do it for me . Fuck it !

You'll need to figure out what personality trait you have that you can tap into to counter that.

Defiance is one example: "Screw it, I'll do it myself."

If you're not the defiant type, maybe something else. Maybe that accountability chat board on SS that @DarkKnight mentioned.

You'd benefit from a personal rule for challenging anxiety too. For me it was (and in fact still is, 18 years later) "If it makes me anxious, I have to do it (unless it's something actually bad / harmful / not something I value whatsoever even beyond the anxiety / etc.)."

  • See a really hot girl and start feeling anxious? Oops... there's the anxiety... now you HAVE to approach her

  • Friend invites you on a road trip, but you've never taken a road trip and the idea triggers anxiety? Too bad... now you have to go

  • At karaoke and they're asking who wants to come on stage and suddenly your nerves act up? Looks like you'll be singing karaoke

It actually turns anxiety into a really fun game: "Damn it! Why'd I have to feel anxious? Now I have to go do that thing, lol."

If you can make that personal resolve your life will transform.

It has to be personal and deep though -- has to be something you truly resolve to do.

If you're just weakly trying to push yourself to do something someone else told you to do, and not because you deep in your bones resolved to, you'll fail.

Chase
 

Spyce D

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Ok , thanks everyone for your advice and insights.

I will apply it and make myself a new and better man .

I will post the progress for sure .
 

Spyce D

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Ok... Today is October 20 .

I have done a few things since I asked you guys for help .

# I have substantially reduce my internet and media intake .

# I started sleeping in complete pichblack dark as darkness was my biggest fear . ( I live alone in my flat)

# I participated in an mma event and even though was shit scared but made it to the semis .


It feels like i have to face my fears head on to really remove them .

But I still am having issues controlling my emotions . I used to think that only when i will feel good or my emotions are great then only I can achieve something but i have realised thst this thinking is the biggest barrier in my life .

So ... It seems like i have to focus on my desires more than my fears but i fucking feel so empty inside .

Fuck it ! Its like there is no way around other than this path itself .

So, thanks for your advice GC brethren .

But i am still a bit of procrastinator.

I will post my progress next time .

Any thoughts ?
 
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Lover

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@ThisIndianGuy:

A pleasurable post to read. Keep working on your sticking points. It may suck for a long time for very little reward. But eventually, you will look at your growth and realize how far you have made it.

Notice your emotions, and then accept them. If anything, use your fear/anxiety to motivate you instead! Sometimes, the biggest progress is made when we are the bottom of our emotional state but we still face our fears.
 

Chase

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Doing awesome, man.

Keep moving fears off the table and before you know it other more positive things will well up to take their place.

But I still am having issues controlling my emotions . I used to think that only when i will feel good or my emotions are great then only I can achieve something but i have realised thst this thinking is the biggest barrier in my life .

Good state definitely helps.

However, you need to be able to get into action regardless your emotions, and trust in the action to get the emotions on board, rather than the reverse:


Once you can do that, the world is your oyster.

Chase
 

Spyce D

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