73. Knocking Down the Three Pillars of Fear with Ravé Mehta

Jan 12, 2017

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Fear is universal, but that doesn’t mean it needs to control your life. Ravé Mehta, the founder of Mehta Labs, is an expert in hacking fear. In fact, he’s spent over 15 years researching and hacking fear to better understand how we can overcome these reactions and feelings.

In addition, Ravé is a pioneer in the virtual reality industry, with nearly two decades of experience in using VR for accelerated learning. He’s also an engineer, entrepreneur, bestselling author, and even an award-winning pianist! Achieving such impressive feats is easier once fear is out of the way, and Ravé offers all sorts of insights and tips into how to join him in that state.

Find Out More About Ravé Here:

@ravemehta on Twitter @ravemehta on Facebook Ravé Mehta on LinkedIn

In This Episode:

[01:38] - What does it mean to hack fear, and why would we want to do it? Ravé shares the personal experience that started his journey into hacking fear.
[02:31] - Ravé explains that there are two base emotions: fear and trust. All negative emotions are somehow rooted in fear, and all positive emotions emerge from trust.
[04:30] - We hear more about the experience Ravé mentioned before and how it forced him to come face-to-face with his fear multiple times daily, as well as the impact it had on the rest of his life.
[07:55] - Ravé talks about techniques he used to stop this fear from controlling his life. He also describes what he calls the three pillars of fear.
[09:37] - The first pillar is time, and Ravé gives another example of how figuratively knocking down this pillar destroys fear.
[11:32] - The second pillar is attachment, which revolves around relationships. Ravé describes how important it is to let go of rigid attachments and shift into cultivating orbital attachments instead.
[15:04] - The third pillar, expectation, is the attachment to a specific outcome.
[17:47] - In response to a specific example of a fear from Stephan, Ravé describes the differences between acute fears and chronic fears. He then gets specific about how to overcome this example of fear.
[20:56] - Ravé explains how trust is like a muscle, and explains the importance of preparation and managing your experience.
[22:12] - What are some of the experiences that Ravé put himself into as part of building his trust muscle?
[25:53] - Ravé talks about where the fear of public speaking comes from.
[27:08] - Why does Ravé call it “hacking fear” instead of just “overcoming fear”?
[28:35] - Moving toward your fear is step 1, Ravé says, because it puts you in a position to confront (rather than avoid) your fear.
[30:00] - We have an emotional immune system in addition to our physical one. Ravé goes into more detail, and touches on how our emotional state can affect our physical health.
[31:57] - Ravé explains how to use “why” questions to get to the root of fear, using another personal example to demonstrate the concept.
[36:45] - We hear a lot about fight or flight, but what is freezing in the context of these fear reactions?
[38:51] - Ravé discusses being in a flow state, explaining what that is and how one feels when in one.
[42:11] - Stephan asks Ravé which books he would recommend to learn more about these sorts of topics. Ravé ’s first recommendation is a book Stephan had already mentioned: The Rise of Superman by Steven Kotler.
[43:43] - Ravé elaborates on the 4% push that he mentioned earlier in the show, which is the optimal percentage of increase to aim for.
[45:17] - We hear more about Ravé ’s work with VR accelerated learning, and how this relates to flow states. In his answer, Ravé discusses how he taught algebra to a six-year-old child.
[48:40] - What does Ravé want to make sure listeners get out of this episode?

Get Optimized!

Next time you feel any negative emotion, take a step back and trace it to its roots in fear. Understanding where it comes from will help you overcome it.
Practice knocking down the first pillar of fear -- timing -- by focusing on being present in the current moment rather than succumbing to the question of “what if?”
Examine the strongest attachments in your life and categorize them into rigid attachments or orbital attachments. Shift your perspective to release the stress of rigid attachments.

Links and Resources:

@ravemehta on Twitter @ravemehta on Facebook Ravé Mehta on LinkedIn Tony Robbins Flow state The Rise of SupermanFlow How I Taught a 6-Year-Old Algebra in Four Months