Business Tips, Dancing Tips, Teaching Tips

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The Fear Code is my favorite and most effective process for achieving extraordinary results in my life.

The essence of it is…whenever I have a fear I have to share it.

THE PROCESS goes like this:

  • Whenever I have a fear, order recognize it. No matter how big or small the fear.
  • Ask if I can share the fear with whoever it involves.
  • Add any disclaimers (if needed).
  • Share the fear.

FOR EXAMPLE:

  • I had a fear pop up as I was reading a post by Rich Schefren and it involves everyone who is going to read this post.
  • Since it doesn’t relate to a single person that is standing in front of me, instead of asking if I can share my fear…I will just share it below and…
  • Disclaimer: Those that don’t want to know my fear can stop reading now.
  • When Rich asked “What’s your best processes?”, my fear code was the first thing that came to mind. Then I thought to myself, “Oh that’s not directly a process to get things done so it’s not what he’s looking for” and immediately I could feel a fear (small but definitely there) of providing an answer that was “wrong”. So here I am, sharing my fear of being wrong and possibly writing something that is a waste of everyone’s time.

But I want to share 4 reasons why I don’t think this is a waste of time, by sharing…

4 TAKEAWAYS from using the fear code:

  • 1. Fears can seriously delay me from taking action so…

… this actually does help me get things done and they are usually very important aspects of my life …… probably due to the fact that they actually scare me.

I’ve used this code to date people that I thought were “out of my league” or OBVIOUSLY not interested in me (when they actually were), get paid way more per hour than I thought I was worth (it feels good to know others value me more than I value myself), and have some pretty killer conversations.

  • 2. When dealing with sensitive subjects (I’m upset with you and afraid to talk to you about it because XYZ),

Starting with asking if you can share a fear puts the other person on your side. It’s harder for them to get defensive because they are already in a mindset of wanting to help you defeat your fear.

This can be very powerful…be very careful and do NOT abuse it or it will hurt you in the long run.

  • 3. A great disclaimer I use (when it makes sense) is to let the person know

My fear is in sharing this information with you…not in your response. So you can say “yes or no” and either one is perfect because you are already helping me defeat my fear just by letting me share it with you.

This is an important disclaimer if you think the other person might be influenced to answer a particular way, rather than speaking their truth.

For example, if I ask someone out on a date, this is important because I don’t want them to feel like they have to say yes. The fear was in asking them out, not in the response they give. So they are free to answer either way and they’ve already helped me defeat my fear.

  • 4. Before creating my fear code, I rarely would’ve shared something that I thought might be wrong, or never had a chance of happening.

The funny part is, I know from testing it…

I’m definitely wrong about being wrong, way more often than I’m right…

…and things have a much greater chance of happening than I realize, if I just ask for them.

Although, I do have decent intuition in some areas of my life, when it comes to things I’m scared of, my intuition is way worse than I thought it was, so instead of blindly trusting it, I just test it.

Test finished. 

Here’s a test for teachers…when I say “you can be a world class dance instructor”, do you say “cool, how?” or do you let fears and negative thoughts tell you “no way, not me”?

Overcome your fears and negative thoughts and check out my World Class Dance Instructor Blueprint by clicking the image below:

What do you think about the Fear Code?  Have you ever tried something similar?  Share your thoughts in the comments below.

If this method doesn’t work for you, here are 33 more ways to overcome fear.


  • Hi Andrew, I love this code! I’ve been afraid to use a code like this…but thinking back, I know that I’ve done this with good effect. I was going out on a date with a new person, and feeling some anxiety. Instead of trying to hide it, I stopped, and said to him, “I’m feeling anxious about this date.”  Just saying it relieved the fear. I didn’t have to keep it to myself and that was a big relief. 
    I also like that you address the disclaimer. We don’t want to put people on the spot, and the intention of the fear code is not to manipulate, but rather to clear our own energy.  

    Thanks so much for sharing this!

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    About the author 

    Andrew Sutton

    Andrew Sutton is a Vice World Champion Lindy Hop Instructor, and one of the original founders of the Fusion partner dance movement. He uses his extensive research in over 254 cities across 38 countries (& 44 dance forms) to help dance instructors be more successful in their teaching & finances during their pursuit to help their students...Make Every Dance Amazing!

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