Fast Forward Your Feelings — Anxiety Hack
Oz developed this when he found himself postponing calls he didn't want to make. He would mentally rate the dread as an 8 or 9 out of 10. He forced himself to make the call, then set a 24-hour alarm to check in with his feelings. He discovered that the anxiety had vanished, usually dropping to a 2. He then used this as a mantra: 'I'm going to feel like a two tomorrow. I'm going to do it right now. And I'm going to feel a two right now instead of an eight.' He ties this to his ultra-running practice: when his blood sugar drops during a run, his mind screams to quit, but he runs through a checklist, re-fuels, and the feeling passes—just a trick of brain chemistry.
The technique leverages a cognitive bias where the brain overestimates the duration and intensity of negative emotions. By collecting actual experiential data that contradicts the anticipatory dread, it creates a corrective feedback loop, reducing the fear response over time through exposure and disconfirmation.
Oz used this method for business calls he dreaded. He describes setting an alarm labeled 'How do you feel?' and finding that when it rang, the anxiety was gone. He says it's 'just a trick' based on the understanding that 'your mind is just a series of chemicals that's tricking you to do that.'
Fast forward your feelings ... I just decided how bad does this feel right now on a sense of on a scale of 1 to 10? ... I set an alarm for 24 hours from today. I force myself just like ripping a band-aid ... When the alarm went off the next day, if I even remembered it, I would say, 'How anxious do I feel now?' Two. ... I go, I'm going to feel like a two tomorrow. I'm going to do it right now. And I'm going to feel a two right now instead of an eight because I actually am in control of my like mental disposition.