It’s hard to imagine the feeling of being in a space shuttle when it is taking off. But I could imagine the experience may involve a lot fear.
It’s a funny comparison but speaking Spanish in public and taking off in a rocket ship aren’t vastly different when it comes to our fears. Both can bring up a fight or flight response.
So what does an astronaut say about dealing with fear? And how can you use the advice to get over your nerves of speaking Spanish in public?
This week’s mindset podcast is inspired by Chris Hadfield.
Chris is a Canadian astronaut who was made famous by his performance of David Bowie’s ‘Space Oddity’ while onboard the international space station.
I recently watched his Ted Talk and thought his ideas around separating danger and fear are incredibly useful.
He starts off the presentation by asking:
– What is the most dangerous thing you have ever done? He then asks,
– What is the scariest thing you have ever done? Then,
– Why did you do it?
I thought these questions were really powerful. And for me, when answering these two questions I discovered an interesting lesson. I realised that when I was doing the most dangerous thing I have ever done I wasn’t the most scared I have ever been. In fact, when I was most scared, I wasn’t doing anything dangerous at all.
His questions made me realise that sometimes our brains are terrible judges of what is actually dangerous.
In the podcast this week I answer the two questions: I tell the story of the most dangerous thing I have ever done and the scariest thing I have ever done.
When telling these stories, I encourage you to answer the questions for yourself. Hopefully you will see that it is very possible to be fearful when there is no danger. And with this knowledge you may be able to a face situation that makes you nervous—like practicing your Spanish in public.
Here is Chris Hadfield’s Ted Talk:
What did you discover about fear, nerves and danger this week?
Podcast: Play in new window
such good information Andrew. I was blown away when I found out that 90% of people are scared to death of public speaking ( I guess you can apply it to speaking a foreign language)- an irrational fear that triggers a fight or flight response. This type of response was useful to us humans when we lived in the forest and had to hunt for survival but now our fears are: being ridiculed, losing our job, making mistakes when speaking a foreign language, etc. I guess we need to deconstruct our fears and find strategies to push through our fear and accomplish our goals. Thanks Andrew!!
Yes, Meritxell, I think the topic of fear is not talked about enough in the context of language learning. But, if we bring it up and talk about it then hopefully we will have a better change of overcoming it.