Five Steps to Overcoming Fear and Self Doubt

by Wyatt Webb

This may sound like the proverbial "bad news," but fear and self-doubt will always be around. These emotions pop up at different stages of life and must be continually dealt with. For example, children are afraid of the dark or of having to speak in front of the class. Teenagers are plagued with self-doubt as they navigate through puberty and dating. Adults face fears and doubts throughout their careers and relationships. And older adults face new fears and doubts as their physical selves diminish and they face life's most challenging transition.

But if that's the bad news, here's the good: Every one of those fears and self-doubts can and must be overcome, and this book will show you how. Drawing from his 20-year career as a therapist, and his unique ability and willingness to examine his own fears and doubts, Wyatt Webb explores the process of fear, its many voices, and all the programming that causes humans to doubt themselves in the first place. Using his simple five-step process (Acknowledge the Fear, Quantify the Fear, Imagine the Worst-Case Scenario, Gather Information and Support, and Celebrate), you'll learn how to walk through fear and self-doubt and arrive at that hoped-for place of freedom—the joy that is your birthright.

179 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[K. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well it was short and breezy like someone else said and could've been easily served up in a series of blog posts, enough so that I read it in a few short sittings. Glad I borrowed it from the library.

I thought it a cop out that he couldn't even reveal his own wound in one telling section where he claims if he knew you face to face he would tell you. Generally these books are really more meaningful when the author is not afraid to reveal their traumas and the reader can actually relate to them and hence trusts them. It sort of negates his credibility with respect to the book's title! It's not as if countless brave victims haven't been coming forward with horrendous stories that help us empathize, relate and therefore feel our own traumas are more acceptable. So this was weak and disappointing for a Hay House book.

That said, his 5 steps & anecdotes had a few good takeaways albeit underwhelming and I found the pole exercise less than compelling. I would've been far more interested in hearing about the work with horses which is the whole reason I even became interested in this author. But the title caught my attention. Maybe I should've read his other book instead. May give it a chance.

*Update: upon reading reviews of It's Not About The Horse and finding that, it really isn't at all about the horse but more anecdotes with zero meaningful or depth of content, I'll pass. Probably a fine therapy program in person. Just not a writer.

[May · Rating 3 out of 5]

Its a book with all the basic facts given out by therapists and with so many information available things are available on many online platforms.
Its good effort and job but writer actually did not give anything new or original unique of them

[Teja Dalvi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Author has simplified the ways to deal with Fear and Self doubt.
A quick read with stories of humans emerging victorious in the battle of their own thoughts and beliefs.

[Douglas Lord · Rating 1 out of 5]

Although breezy and readable, the text by therapist Webb (It's Not About the Horse: It's About Overcoming Fear and Self-Doubt) relies too much on pointless, albeit heartfelt, anecdotes about conquering his own demons (i.e., a cycle of vulnerability, pain, shame, and rage) by climbing a 30-foot pole. His revelations are just too personal; he fails to explain what he has learned, which leaves readers in the dark about how to handle their own fears and makes the author appear self-congratulatory. Worse, there's not enough method to salvage the remaining material. Webb's titular five steps--e.g., acknowledge fear and self-doubt, imagine the worst-case scenario--would have been better presented in a series of articles. Pass.

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