Stoic Motivation: It's Ok To Be Scared. Just Don't Be AFRAID.

"The world is a narrow bridge and the important thing is to not be afraid" - Hebrew prayer.

The world we live in is uncertain and full of risks and it's easy to get scared and look down instead of looking forward. But if you peer over to the side of the bridge, you lose the motivation to continue, you freeze up and stop making good decisions.

What does help in a situation in which you are scared: training, courage, discipline, commitment and calm.

From all of the above, courage is held by the stoics as the most essential virtue.

"It's not that astronauts are braver than other people. We're just meticulously prepared."

Astronauts face all kinds of difficult, very risky situations in space. And the margin for error is extremely tiny in those situations.

Astronaut Chris Hadfield says that the key in these difficult situations is to remind yourself that you are prepared, you gained your skills and there are things you can to make the situation better.

There is no problem so bad that you can't make it worse.

And that's the difference between being scared and being afraid - the latter prevents you from improving your situations and it may even make things worse.

"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself - nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed effort to convert retreat into advance."

Don't let your imagination be crushed by life as a whole. Don't try to picture everything bad that could possibly happen. Stick with the situation at hand, and ask, “Why is this so unbearable? Why can't I endure it?" You'll be embarrassed to answer.