💌 How the Peltzman Effect Can Help You Conquer Your Biggest Fears

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😱 Power of the Peltzman Effect:

I conquered one of my biggest fears using the Peltzman Effect.

Note: You will sound smart to all of your friends when you share this information at your next gathering.

One of my biggest fears in life has been swimming in deep water. After an incident where I nearly drowned when I was young, I’ve avoided swimming and all water activities where I cannot feel my feet on some surface.

However, during a trip to Maui last year, I knew I wanted to conquer this fear and snorkel in the beautiful ocean.

My first attempt didn’t go well. Picture this: a grown woman experiencing a full-blown panic attack, shedding tears and snot, and hyperventilating trying to climb up and get on the boat. Next to her? A 6 year old kid who is getting ready to scuba dive. Everyone around her? Happily snorkeling in the beautiful ocean in Molokini Crater.

It was terrifying. All of the memories that came up from when I was a child came flooding back. However, as I was desperately wading my way back to the boat, I caught a glimpse of a school of beautiful fish and coral reefs underneath the water.

I knew that if I didn’t conquer this fear, I would miss out on this beautiful view.

It took me three times before I figured it out.

What finally worked? I leveraged a concept I had learned previously called the Peltzman Effect, and asked for a boogie board and life vest.

What is the Peltzman Effect (i.e. Risk Compensation Theory)?

The Peltzman Effect suggests that when safety measures are implemented, people actually tend to increase their risky behaviors.

This is because people’s perception of risk decreases, so they feel that they can now afford to make riskier decisions.

In other words, people actually act more unsafe when there are mandatory safety measures (e.g. wearing a seatbelt) set in place.

However, this framework can actually help provide a different perspective on taking risks in your life.

If there’s something you have always been afraid of doing:

Step 1: Understand your risk tolerance level in general.

You can subjectively analyze yourself (e.g. I’m risk-averse, I’m willing to take high risks, etc.) or use a neat psychology quiz here.

Step 2: Ask yourself:

• What thoughts or feelings come up when I think about this fear or risk?

• What is the probability of the worst case scenario happening?

• What are the pros and cons of taking on this level of risk?

• Is this risk worth taking on? Do the pros outweigh the cons?

• What measures can I take in order to help me feel more comfortable?

Step 3: Incorporate those safety measures and adjust until you feel comfortable enough to do it.

Note: You might never feel 100% comfortable when doing something scary, but each person’s level of risk is specific to that individual, so keep adjusting this until you find what works for you.

A few real-life examples I pulled and the strategies that worked specifically for that individual:

• Person 1 wants to quit their job to pursue building a business. They move back home, save up 6 months of finances, get an accountability partner, and give themselves a structured timeline to focus on building the business.

• Person 2 has an upcoming presentation in front of a large audience despite having a longtime fear of public speaking. They start by taking a 90-minute public speaking workshop and speak with the instructor first to develop a plan before ultimately enrolling in weekly public speaking and improv classes.

• Person 3 is figuring out whether or not to move to a new city. They reach out to loose connections in the city and explore the area during a few quick trips first, extending the stay a bit longer each time – before ultimately moving to the city.

The boogie board and safety vest were what I needed in order to feel comfortable swimming in the ocean. I still experienced moments of intense panic even after being in the ocean with my boogie board and safety vest, but I took deep breaths and leveraged meditation to help me remain calm.

Ultimately, I ended up staying in the ocean the longest out of everyone there, saw some of the beautiful fish, and had the most fun and memorable experience of a lifetime.

The next time something feels scary or overwhelming to you, don’t forget to leverage the power of the Peltzman Effect (otherwise known as “risk compensation theory”)!

🔱 Weekly Finds:

• 🦔 Find your “Ikigai” or “Hedgehog." Jim Collins coached Jeff Bezos and Amazon. He estimates that only 3% of the world has figured out their “Ikagai” or “Hedgehog”. Here’s what they are and how you find yours.

• 🔥 7 signs you're in survival mode.

• 👩🏻‍🚒 What to do about burnout. Summarizing the interesting parts of this article: research shows that it can take up to two years to heal from burnout, which can present as a form of PTSD (e.g. losing confidence in your work, developing a fear of speaking up, and more); 55 hours a week marks a point of diminishing returns and if you work over 55 hours a week… it no longer is a net positive for your company. In other words, grinding around the clock doesn’t lead to better work!

  • Moss shares specific actions things managers can do to help team members heal from burnout as well as spot, mitigate, and prevent it from happening in the future.

• 👵🏼 Top 5 tips for living to 100. Eat mainly a plant based diet, 8+ hours of sleep, articulate your sense of purpose, move naturally all day long (e.g. walking, gardening, etc.), curate 4-5 friends whom you can count on a bad day and have healthy habits themselves.

• ☮️ How to make peace with feeling less ambitious. The new year often brings excitement to reach new heights and hit even bigger goals than the year before, but what if that’s simply not where you’re at right now? If you’re truly running your own marathon, it’s important to know when you need to catch your breath. Here are three strategies for you to implement ways to momentarily slow things down in your career. Taking a step back can give you the energy you need to move forward more quickly and effectively in the future.

In the News:

• 🖇 The state of ambition at work in 2023. One-fifth of workers state their career ambitions have significantly decreased in the last three years and are now saying no when they're asked to do more or work weekends for the same pay. Many say they see little connection between working hard and being rewarded. Offices are now making tactical changes to get the job done.

• 📆 Shopify cancelled all recurring meetings & created meeting-free Wednesdays. Shopify makes bold moves at the start of the year, eliminating over 76,500 hours across their employees' calendars in an effort to drive higher productivity. We love to see it!

• 💸 What is “quiet hiring?" 2022 came with a slew of new workplace lingo: quiet quitting, quiet firing, and fast quitting. However, a new trend is likely to dominate the hiring space in 2023: "quiet hiring." Here's what you need to know about the trend.

💟 Reminders:

💌 That's it for today — see you all next week!

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