OVERCOMING FEAR

“It’s very important to take risks. I think that research is very important, but in the end you have to work from your instinct and feeling and take those risks and be fearless.”

—Anna Wintour, journalist, and editor of Vogue.

The Navy SEAL Special Warfare Command puts recruits through a special training program to change and condition the way their brains react to fear. The Navy understands that mistakes in the field normally result from fear and panic. Therefore, they have developed training exercises that are specifically designed to reduce or eliminate fear and panic.

Our brain’s amygdala is the command center for our emotions, including fear. The amygdala is the first region of the brain to react to fear. The prefrontal cortex is the brain’s center for conscious, rational thought. It analyzes and reacts to fear impulses immediately after the amygdala does.

Navy SEAL training exposes recruits to constant and extreme high-risk situations, conditioning their minds and bodies (through this constant exposure) to suppress and control their fears. Through repeated exposure to risk, recruits are taught to suppress and override the responses of the amygdala by using their prefrontal cortex to control their fears, allowing recruits to respond more calmly, more quickly and more rationally.

Navy SEALs are put in a ten-foot-deep pool as part of Navy SEAL training. They are given a mask and oxygen tanks, weighed down with weights and told to remain underwater for forty-five minutes. Once at the bottom of the pool, two instructors begin to harass and wrestle with the recruit underwater. They rip away their mask and breathing apparatus. This continues for the full forty-five minutes. During this period, the amygdala generates a fight-or-flight response, sending danger signals to the recruit’s brain and telling them to get out of the water.

To help recruits deal with these primal fears, the Navy’s Mental Toughness Program contains four parts:

Part 1 Goal Setting

Goal setting conditions the prefrontal cortex to anticipate fear, providing organization that helps the brain to avoid chaos. By setting the goal of remaining underwater, the recruits essentially preprogram the prefrontal cortex to anticipate and override the fear signals from the amygdala.

Part 2 Mental Rehearsal/ Visualization

Continuous mental rehearsal and visualization makes the actual event more anticipated and less frightening, again reducing the likelihood of chaos and fear.

Part 3 Self-Talk

The Navy teaches SEAL recruits to focus on positive thoughts to help override the amygdala’s automatic responses. Self-talk constantly reinforces positive thoughts and blocks negative thoughts. Examples of self-talk might be: “I can do this,” “This is only a test,” or “I need to pass this test.”

Part 4 Arousal Control

The training on arousal control focuses on breathing, using deep inhales and long exhales to remain calm under pressure.

The combination of all four approaches provides a tested and proven method to reduce fear.Why is this important for you to know? We all face fear—the fear of going on a job interview, starting a new job or starting a new business. Using the above techniques can allow you to overcome your fears and meet life’s challenges more calmly and more effectively.