--- title: 4 Scientific Steps to Facing Your Fears description: Deliberately make mistakes and then incorporate them into the action canonical: https://time.com/3738880/scientific-steps-facing-fears/ author: Eric Barker article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-03-17T04:01:38.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-31T08:16:00.950Z article:section: Ideas og:title: 4 Scientific Steps to Facing Your Fears og:description: Deliberately make mistakes and then incorporate them into the action og:url: https://time.com/3738880/scientific-steps-facing-fears/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte57baab2d9f8ddd0/698782f706f2c1144f3345c1/480822779-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=345&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 345 og:image:height: 194 og:image:alt: man-bungee-jumping og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 4 Scientific Steps to Facing Your Fears twitter:description: Deliberately make mistakes and then incorporate them into the action twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte57baab2d9f8ddd0/698782f706f2c1144f3345c1/480822779-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=345&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 4 Scientific Steps To Facing Your Fears > Sponsored content. 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A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. by [Eric Barker](https://time.com/author/eric-barker/) ## Eric Barker Mar 17, 2015 4:01 AM UTC  Nepal, Asia Nepal, Asia Getty Images by [Eric Barker](https://time.com/author/eric-barker/) ## Eric Barker Mar 17, 2015 4:01 AM UTC In his book [The Courage Quotient: How Science Can Make You Braver](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0470917423/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0470917423&linkCode=as2&tag=spacforrent-20), Robert Biswas-Diener shows how we can use science and research to be more brave. He explains that there are two factors to courage: * Fear * Willingness to act They can both go up or down. Courage = “Willingness to act” divided by “Fear.” To increase bravery you must either: * Reduce fear. * Boost willingness to act. * Do both of the above. What steps can we take in the moment to be more courageous? ## 1) Reduce uncertainty The more we understand about a situation, what could realistically occur, and our position in it, the more able we are to think clearly. We are consumed by worry and fear when we don’t understand what is going on, don’t know what to do and or how to get control: via [The Courage Quotient](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0470917423/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0470917423&linkCode=as2&tag=spacforrent-20): --- > “” --- ## 2) **Relax** You need something to calm your body so you don’t panic. Interestingly, this was also one of the techniques the Navy SEALS used to increase passing rates:[teaching “arousal control.”](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/what-four-psychological-techniques-did-the-go) Yoga, prayer, meditation — anything that helped people keep calm proves valuable. via [The Courage Quotient](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0470917423/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0470917423&linkCode=as2&tag=spacforrent-20): --- > “” --- ## 3) **Get angry** I’ve posted before how [anger focuses attention on rewards, increases persistence, makes us feel in control and more optimistic about achieving our goals](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/when-can-an-angry-mood-be-beneficial). When we want to be courageous, that’s exactly what we need. via [The Courage Quotient](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0470917423/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0470917423&linkCode=as2&tag=spacforrent-20): --- > “” --- ## 4) **Alternately, accept the possibility of failure** If it’s life or death, anger might be great. If it’s just public speaking, rage may not be an option. So we must shift from a defensive “prevention focus” to a reward-oriented “promotion focus.” And that means accepting the possibility of failure and seeing life as a learning opportunity. via [The Courage Quotient](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0470917423/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0470917423&linkCode=as2&tag=spacforrent-20): --- > “” --- People performed best at public speaking not when they feared making mistakes or even when they were willing to forgive their own mistakes. They felt great and were rated most highly when they took a “novelty” perspective: deliberately making mistakes and then incorporating them into the presentation. via [The Courage Quotient](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0470917423/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0470917423&linkCode=as2&tag=spacforrent-20): --- > “” --- Can these types of strategy really work? **82% of the people surveyed who had committed acts of bravery said they used some sort of courage-enhancing strategy before their big moment.** **_This piece originally appeared on_** [**_Barking Up the Wrong Tree_**](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2012/07/can-you-learn-to-be-courageous/)**_._** **Join over 161,000 readers. Get a free weekly update via email** [**here**](http://eepurl.com/o6uAD)**.** Related posts: [What 3 techniques does the Army use to instill mental toughness?](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/what-3-techniques-does-the-army-use-to-instil) [What four psychological techniques did the government use to increase Navy SEAL passing rates?](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/what-four-psychological-techniques-did-the-go) [Why does time seem to slow down during car accidents and scary situations?](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/why-does-time-seem-to-slow-down-during-car-ac) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3738880/scientific-steps-facing-fears/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3738880/scientific-steps-facing-fears/"},"headline":"4 Scientific Steps To Facing Your Fears","datePublished":"2015-03-17T04:01:38.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T08:16:00.950Z","description":"Deliberately make mistakes and then incorporate them into the action","url":"https://time.com/3738880/scientific-steps-facing-fears/","keywords":["Psychology"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte57baab2d9f8ddd0/698782f706f2c1144f3345c1/480822779-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eric Barker","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/eric-barker/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte57baab2d9f8ddd0/698782f706f2c1144f3345c1/480822779-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"man-bungee-jumping","caption":"man-bungee-jumping","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/psychology/","name":"Psychology"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3738880/scientific-steps-facing-fears/","name":"4 Scientific Steps To Facing Your Fears"}}]}] ```