The Verywell Mind Podcast

212 - Friday Fix: Stop Making Your Biggest Fears Come True

Nov 4, 2022

In this podcast, they discuss how our fears can inadvertently become reality, leading to self-fulfilling prophecies. They talk about examples like overprotective parenting and clingy behavior driven by fear of loneliness. The podcast also explores strategies to overcome fear and prevent self-sabotage to avoid realizing our biggest fears.

11:24

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Quick takeaways

Excessive fear and worry can lead us to unconsciously create the outcomes we fear most.

Compensatory behaviors intended to prevent fears may ironically increase the chances of those fears becoming reality.

Deep dives

Impact of Fear on Behavior

Fear can influence our behavior to the point where we unintentionally make our biggest fears a reality. This occurs when excessive worry hinders us from taking constructive actions, such as preparing for a storm, leading to the feared outcome. Additionally, the intense focus on avoiding a fear can distract us, increasing the likelihood of it happening, as seen in situations like public speaking anxiety.

Intro

2min

Unintentionally Manifesting Biggest Fears into Reality

6min

Overcoming Fear and Self-Sabotage to Prevent Worst Fears

3min

Sometimes, we inadvertently increase the chances that our biggest fears might come true.

That’s not to say it’s your fault if something bad happened to you. Bad things happen to us through no fault of our own much of the time.

But there are times when our fear of something causes us to react in a way that actually increases the chances that our fear might come true.

From dating the exact type of person you said you wanted to avoid to getting into the financial mess that you swore you’d never get into, there are plenty of other ways in which our efforts sometimes backfire.

Here are the four reasons we sometimes accidentally make our biggest fears come true, how to recognize when you’re doing it, and what to do about it.

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The Verywell Mind Podcast

212 - Friday Fix: Stop Making Your Biggest Fears Come True

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

Deep dives

Impact of Fear on Behavior

Familiarity and Compensatory Behavior

Overprotection and Unintended Outcomes

Remember Everything You Learn from Podcasts