For fears that are impossible, disregard and cross them off the list. For the ones that could possibly come to pass, keep going. STEP 3: ASK YOURSELF, “IF THIS FEAR CAME TO PASS, WHAT WOULD THE CONSEQUENCES BE?” It’s okay to think of the worst-case scenario here. In fact, it’s pref- erable. If you articulate the worst thing that could happen, then you at least know what it is and can now move forward with a clear understanding of what there is to lose. There is nothing wrong with this—being realistic is a big part of defeating fear, so write down what the consequences are. For some of the fears, the consequences will be minor. For example, if the fear is “I’m afraid I sound bitchy,” the consequences of that are probably benign. For other fears, the consequences could be larger. For example, if the fear is, “I’m afraid that I’ll write this book and I will look bad, and it will hurt my professional reputation,” the consequences might be substantial. And don’t shortchange the impact of the consequence. If you are afraid of something like this happening: “I will write a bad book and people will think I’m stupid and my company will fail, and I’ll be a joke and go broke. I’ll lose my house and my family, and I’ll go hungry and die cold and alone on the streets,” then write it out. Whatever you fear the consequences might be, write them down. STEP 4: ASK YOURSELF, “WHEN I WRITE MY BOOK, WHAT BENEFIT WILL I GET FOR MYSELF?” You could say, “If I write my book, then I will increase my authority hOW TO BEAT yOUr fEArS (AND fiNiSh yOUr BOOk) · 45