In 2014, Michelle Poler moved to New York City for graduate school and found herself more anxious than ever.
Instead of trying to gain control of every situation in her life, she decided to surrender to the fear and let it lead her. So she started a blog and project called 100 Days Without Fear.
For 100 days, she confronted her biggest fears head-on.
They ranged from small ventures like reading negative comments on her blog or going camping, to big adrenaline surges like skydiving or giving a TEDx Talk.
That Talk — which started as one of her most looming anxieties — led her to a creative, successful career in public speaking.
“From that day on I decided to dedicate my life to encourage as many people as possible to start living a more fulfilled lifestyle by speaking at schools, organizations and companies all over the world,” Poler writes on her website.
In the decade since, the fear-confronting social movement she started has reached over 70 million people across the globe, and she has released a book (aptly named “Hello Fears”) to empower people to step outside of their comfort zones to truly thrive.
“I’m telling you, after facing 100 fears, not even one time the actual challenge was worse than what I had in my head before,” Poler said in her 2015 TEDx Talk.
“I don’t believe in absolute fearlessness, but I do believe that we can negotiate with our fears as a way to pursue our dreams and open ourselves to new experiences that we never even considered.”
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A version of this article was originally published in The 2024 Courage Edition of the Goodnewspaper.
Header image courtesy of Michelle Poler/Hello Fears
