Fear is Your Compass
You’ve Been Running From Your Biggest Opportunities. They’re All Hiding Behind What Scares You Most. Stop Avoiding Fear. Start Following It.
The Backwards Truth About Fear
Everyone treats fear like a stop sign.
It’s actually a treasure map.
Every meaningful transformation in your life is hiding behind something that terrifies you. Every breakthrough you need is camouflaged as something you’d rather avoid. Every version of yourself you want to become is waiting on the other side of what scares you most.
Fear isn’t the problem. Fear avoidance is the problem.
Society taught you that courage means feeling no fear. That’s not courage—that’s numbness.
Real courage is feeling the fear and moving toward it anyway. Using terror as your GPS. Following the thing that makes your stomach drop because that’s where growth lives.
Your biggest fears are pointing directly at your biggest opportunities.
Most people spend their entire lives running in the opposite direction.
How a Spider Phobia Taught Me Everything About Fear
For 35 years, I was absolutely petrified of spiders.
Not just uncomfortable. Not just a minor dislike. Full-blown, embarrassing, run-from-the-room terror.
I’d shout my wife to remove a spider from the bathroom. My heart rate would ramp up at the very sight of one. I’d even check hotel rooms like a forensic investigator before unpacking.
At 35 years old, an eight-legged creature the size of a 50p coin could control my state.
The turning point came during a conversation with Geoff Thompson—former doorman, martial artist, and expert on fear psychology. He explained his “fear pyramid” concept:
Start with your smallest fear and work your way up.
Don’t try to conquer your biggest terror first. Build confidence by facing smaller fears systematically. Each victory gives you the courage to tackle the next level.
So I started with pictures of spiders. Then watching the 90’s film ‘Arachnophobia’. Then being in the same room as one. Then actually looking at one closely.
Six months later, I could remove a spider from my house without breaking into a cold sweat.
Not because I’d eliminated the fear—but because I’d changed my relationship with it.
The fear was still there. But it was no longer in control.
That’s when I realised: Every other fear in my life could be dismantled the same way.
The Sobriety Terror That Nearly Kept Me Drunk
My second biggest fear? Sobriety.
I was terrified of feeling everything I’d been avoiding.
What if I was boring without alcohol? What if social situations became unbearable? What if I couldn’t handle stress without my liquid anaesthetic?
What if I discovered I didn’t actually like myself sober?
For years, this fear kept me trapped in a cycle of weekend drinking, stress medicating, and accepting “functional alcoholism” as normal.
The fear felt rational. Justified. Protective.
It was actually the prison guard keeping me from the life I wanted.
Using Geoff’s pyramid approach, I started small:
One alcohol-free weekend. Then one alcohol-free week. Then one alcohol-free month.
Each victory proved the fear was lying. I wasn’t boring—I was more interesting. Social situations weren’t unbearable—they became more authentic. Stress didn’t require medication—it required better coping strategies.
The person I was afraid of meeting sober turned out to be the person I’d been looking for my entire adult life.
The fear hadn’t been protecting me from danger. It had been protecting me from growth.
The Physical Transformation Terror
My third major fear? Facing the daily work required to transform from a non-runner to someone capable of hitting specific performance targets.
My goal: To run a sub 2-hour half marathon.
This wasn't just a number—it represented a complete identity shift. From someone who avoided physical discomfort to someone who pursued it intentionally.
The fear wasn't just about the training. It was about discovering I wasn't capable of sustained discipline. About starting something I couldn't finish. A trait i’d become renowned for. The guy who doesn’t do what he says he would.
What if I trained for months and still couldn't break that 2-hour barrier?
What if I proved to myself that I was fundamentally weak?
What if I lacked the discipline, focus, and commitment required?
These fears felt massive. Insurmountable. Logical reasons to stay comfortable.
They were actually just my fear pyramid's next level.
The Journey Begins
Started with 10-minute runs. Then 20-minute runs. Then 5Ks. Then 10Ks. Building systematically toward that half marathon goal.
It required discipline in showing up daily. Focus on the training plan. Commitment to the process. Sobriety to keep my head clear and to optimise recovery. And most importantly, an identity shift from someone who "wasn't a runner" to someone who simply ran.
After 4 months of consistent work (and a few failed attempts), I crossed that finish line in 1:57:37.
The fear didn't disappear—but I learned to use it as fuel instead of letting it use me as an excuse.
Four Years Later
That first sub-2 was just the beginning. Four years later, I've now ran a sub 2-hour half marathon on TEN separate occasions.
Current personal best: 1:32:59—ran the day before my 40th birthday just two weeks ago.
Each time i crossed the finish line, it proved the fear was negotiating with outdated data. The person who was terrified of that first 2-hour goal couldn't have imagined running the same distance almost 30+ minutes faster.
Not because I eliminated the fear of hard work—but because I learned that transformation happens one uncomfortable step at a time.
The Fear That’s Hunting Me Right Now
Which brings me to my current terror: Becoming the Welsh national backyard ultra record holder.
This isn’t just another running goal. This requires 41+ hours of continuous running. Over 170 miles. A mental and physical test that sounds impossible from where I’m sitting today.
My current PB? 25 hours. 104 miles.
That means I need to run for 16 more hours than i ever have before. Cover 65+ additional miles. All while staying mentally strong when my body is systematically breaking down.
This terrifies me.
The physical suffering. The sleep deprivation. The possibility of falling short after years of preparation.
What if I hit my breaking point at hour 20? What if my body quits before my mind? What if I discover my limits are nowhere near where I think they are?
But here’s what I’ve learned about fear:
It’s not trying to protect you from failure. It’s trying to protect you from becoming someone you’ve never been before.
The discomfort I’m feeling isn’t a warning to avoid this goal. It’s confirmation that working towards this goal is exactly what my growth requires.
Fear always emerges when you’re about to level up.
The bigger the fear, the bigger the transformation waiting on the other side.
This doesn’t mean that the result is inevitable.
There are athletes out there that spend entire careers working towards a goal that they ultimately never achieve.
The result is actually ironically irrelevant.
It's who you become in the process of working towards these fears that is the life changing aspect.
The Fear Pyramid Protocol: Your 5-Step Framework
Stop running from fear. Start systematically dismantling it.
Step 1: Fear Inventory
List every fear that’s controlling your behaviour. Big ones, small ones, rational ones, ridiculous ones. Everything that makes you say “I could never” or “that’s too scary.”
Step 2: Pyramid Construction
Arrange your fears from smallest to largest. Your spider phobia equivalent at the bottom. Your backyard ultra equivalent at the top.
Step 3: Micro-Exposure Therapy
Start with your smallest fear. Take the tiniest possible action toward it. If you’re afraid of public speaking, practice in front of the mirror. If you’re afraid of starting a business, research for 10 minutes.
Step 4: Progressive Overload
Each small victory gives you permission to tackle the next level. Don’t jump ahead. Build confidence systematically. Each conquered fear becomes evidence that bigger fears are conquerable too.
Step 5: Reframe the Sensation
Stop interpreting fear as danger. Start interpreting it as excitement. Both create identical physical sensations—elevated heart rate, increased awareness, heightened energy. The only difference is the story you tell yourself about what those sensations mean.
Fear isn’t your enemy warning you about danger. Fear is your compass pointing toward growth.
The Choice That Changes Everything
Right now, you have two options:
Option 1: Keep treating fear like a stop sign. Keep running from discomfort. Keep choosing safety over growth. Keep wondering who you might have become if you’d been braver.
Option 2: Start treating fear like a treasure map. Start moving toward what scares you. Start following your terror to your transformation.
Most people choose Option 1. They optimise for comfort and wonder why they feel empty.
The few who choose Option 2 build lives that make others jealous.
Not because they eliminated fear—but because they learned to dance with it.
Your biggest fear is pointing directly at your next level.
The question isn’t whether you’ll feel afraid. The question is whether you’ll let that fear choose your future or use it to create one.
What’s your backyard ultra equivalent?
What goal scares you so much you haven’t even spoken it out loud yet?
That’s where your growth is hiding.
Remember, Fear isn’t your enemy. Fear avoidance is.
Stop running from what scares you. Start running toward it.
Your future self is waiting on the other side of your current terror.
The only question is: Are you brave enough to find out who you become when you stop letting fear make your decisions?
Chris