How To Overcome Fear Lesson 2 – Never Give Up | Chuck Yeager

Courage without fear isn’t bravery at all-just blind stupidity. We’ve got to face fears to overcome them-not blindly shut out our eyes and pretend they’re not there. Let’s learn a little from Chuck Yeager on how to Overcome Fear. Check-out Part 1 on Joseph Kittinger and Part 3 on the man he mentored, Fearless Felix Baumgartner.

“You never give up. And that’s basically the way you look at it. You can get yourself into a position where it’s impossible to get out. Well, obviously, you’re going to die then. If you die, you don’t know anything about it anyway.”

Chuck Yeager, first man to break the sound barrier

Introducing Chuck Yeager

Chuck Yeager was put to the challenge no one in history had ever faced-to physically break the sound barrier. Flight was still a relatively new capability of man-and this guy was already trying to fly faster than sound. He was a military officer and a test pilot. He tried flying tons of new stuff. But to fly faster than sound took a new level of faith and determination to overcome fear.

Chuck Yeager Never Give Up

Vapor from breaking the sound barrier.

For Chuck Yeager, it wasn’t extreme skill that would help him overcome fear. It wasn’t a talent only he possessed that would give him the ability to break the sound barrier. It was the will and desire to never give up. To keep flying, trying, attempting.

A Choice-To Never Give Up

There’s lots of principles that will give us the upper hand when kicking fear in the face. There isn’t just one silver bullet. But sometimes the fight to overcome fear doesn’t take a deep psychological 12 step program or saying 50 prayers. When you’ve got what seems like a mountain of fear to overcome, or even the smallest of hills, it can seem complicated and ugly to face the process. Sometimes we don’t need to worry about the process of labor over every painstaking details. Sometimes we just need a well-thought plan and choose to never give up.

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Comments

  1. Make a plan and stick to it! When you decide where you want to, keep that vision in front of you.

    • Todd Mayfield says

      I agree! Did you read part one? There’s so many components to overcoming fear, many being psychological that I didn’t jump into here. But sometimes it does take thoughtful planning and refusing to quit when the fear is of a big task ahead.

  2. That’s an awesome picture! I haven’t seen it in quite a few years so thanks for sharing! Overcoming fear it tough; I think my greatest fear for a long time was public speaking. It’s terrifying and I still struggle with it, but after a lot of practice and preparation I’ve been able to overcome it in some situations.

    • Todd Mayfield says

      Nice! Yeah overcoming fear of public speaking I think is a composite of a lot of components-insecurities, preparation and experience. The hardest is the insecurity. But preparation and experience are easily simulated. I sometimes have given a presentation to a video camera then played it back, or at least to a friend in person or over the phone. If you can practice in the actual venue you’ll be speaking in, even by yourself, it’s a great help.

  3. I read Chuck Yeager’s autobiography several years ago.

    I still remember one quote from the book where he said, “There are old pilots and there are bold pilots. But there are no old, bold pilots.”

    I guess he is the exception to that rule, since he is still living.

    • Todd Mayfield says

      Hmm that’s a very intriguing quote. I don’t know if you read my previous post on Joe Kittinger, but it is just insane reading about Yeager and him. I was sitting thinking toward about this guys, they didn’t really have a 100% certain idea if they would explode, melt, or vaporize when they broke the sound barrier and fell from earth.

      Just a decade after Chuck Yeager’s sound breaking flight Kittinger fell at 90% of Mach 1. So Kittinger literally almost broke the sound barrier-WITH NO JET!

      It’s hard to fathom what is different about these men that they are so brave.

  4. Awesome comparison, The sound barrier news was pretty groundbreaking

  5. My supervisor said something similar about how he overcame his fear of heights. I’ve tried; I just can’t do it.

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