The Paradox of Anxiety

Three illustrative stories about anxiety (one of them is fake)

It was early fall in Kyiv, I was strolling by Taras Shevchenko Park when a beautiful silver Maserati caught my eye. Kyiv, Ukraine (where I think I met a spy) oddly has the highest concentrations of high-end performance luxury cars that I've seen outside of Miami or Los Angeles. It parked just ahead of me and a muscular, middle-aged driver wearing stylish athletic gear got out. I thought to myself...
I should approach him and compliment his car.
But of course, a bunch of reasons jumped to mind as to why that was a terrible idea.
You have no idea who the hell this guy is! In a city and a country like this with a car like that, he might be a real mobster. You're just a solo tourist here. You're in no position to be taking risks! You'll probably annoy him. Just mind your own business! This is not a country where people appreciate strangers starting conversations with them. He might not even speak English.

I pushed those thoughts aside and just started walking towards the guy. I clearly enunciated in English: "Excuse me. That is a beautiful car." (I did speak enough Russian to say this but I've learned over the course of many cold approaches that unless you speak a language fluently, just go with English)

The guy smiled just slightly and responded in a thick Slavic accent: Thank you. It's new. We chatted for a few minutes there about cars before heading our separate ways and he told me he was a dentist. A likely story!

I had been watching some pick-up artist videos about daygame - approaching attractive women during the day (while sober!) - and was determined to try it. Strolling down the street in Medellin, Colombia I spotted a good-looking woman walking ahead of me with long black hair, dressed somewhat professionally in a form-fitting grey dress. Immediately, massive approach anxiety kicked in: Don't bother her, she looks like she's going to work! But I just kept my feet moving toward her, I trotted ahead of her, turned waved, and told her in Spanish "Hello, I'm Jonathan. I just saw you and thought you looked very beautiful today!" I then froze up and ran out of things to say. She smiled, stopped, and asked me where I was from. She pulled out a pack of cigarettes, lit up, and offered me one (I declined). We chatted for a bit there, and I actually scored her number (beginners' luck - audaces fortuna juvat). But we never met again.

Recently, I had a somewhat awkward moment at the gym; a bigger guy kinda-sorta cut me off, going for a station I was just about to use. Waiting for him to complete his set (I wasn't mad at him, he was just a bit more assertive) I thought, I should strike up a conversation! But then the anxiety kicked in, I started making excuses to not interrupt him: This guy just cut you off, he might be an asshole. You're wearing headphones, he's wearing headphones - why bother him? He might not even speak English! But I pushed those aside and asked him when he finished to spot me, and he obliged. After, he asked me, "Where are you from?" And we chatted, gym buddy made.

You'll have to listen to the podcast, to learn which of these stories is fake!

The paradox of anxiety

We tend to think of anxiety as kind of a problem of wimpy people, we hear anxiety and we think of...

• The lady who just locks up when she has to speak publicly in a meeting.

• The college graduate who is paralyzed by nervousness before a big job interview.

• The shy guy who is afraid to introduce himself to the pretty girl he fancies.

• The grumpy old man who watches too much television and is always angry and worried about politics.

But these are not the only manifestations of anxiety, anxiety is also an inevitable side effect of ambition. I would suggest that if you don't suffer from a little anxiety you are not really ambitious.

Risk and reward are inextricably entangled

Meaningful accomplishment entails danger and brilliance requires getting rid of the safety net. If you are doing something that matters there is a very real chance of failure and this naturally produces anxiety. If failure in the pursuit to which you dedicate yourself is not a weighty enough possibility that it's actually disturbed your sleep in recent memory, then what you're pursuing is insufficiently ambitious (unless you are just an elite sleep hacker). You may have some great redeeming qualities but if you're not at least moderately fearful about your future, you are not ambitious. Entrepreneurs and business people are infamous for how they self-medicate for their anxiety...

• Booze and marijuana.

• Cocaine and hard drugs.

• Medication and pharmaceuticals.

• Sex addiction.

You might say...

So anxiety is just part of the deal. If you want to do something that matters in the world anxiety and stress will be your companions.

If you were living at any other time in history that sentiment would be spot on - the cold undeniable reality of the human condition (especially for men) - but you are more fortunate than you know to be living in the current year and it's not really true anymore.

Fear

I don't subscribe to the idea that fear is something to be disregarded. I think this is one of the stupider self-help platitudes that has permeated pop psychology and mainstream consciousness. Perhaps some well-meaning guru convinced you that fear is really...
False
Evidence
Appearing
Real
This is true some of the time but a lot of times fear is a useful reaction to very real evidence and many people make bad decisions because they disregard it. This acronym is such a convincing absolute generalization that I'll encourage you to throw it out of your vocabulary and internal narrative.

So what is a more rational response to fear?

Embrace acute fear arbitrarily.
Biohack general fear categorically.

I'll elaborate and illustrate.

First...

Embrace acute fear arbitrarily

Often visceral fear is the compass that we can use to navigate to success. The more guttural the fear we have about something that we intellectually know is not deserving of avoidance the more we should lean into THAT fear. Often your powerful subconscious mind will notify you of opportunities with a heuristic gut reaction; tension in the chest and gut, increased heartbeat, and raised blood pressure - you know exactly what I'm talking about. The confusing thing is that this feels like fear but it's actually an opportunity signal.

You'll hear successful people talk about how they just follow their instincts which can be super frustrating to hear if you have met with failure in the past and perhaps have some scars as a result of just following your instincts or impulsive decision-making.

You can develop much more keen and helpful gut instincts by arbitrarily pursuing the things that stimulate a heuristic reaction. I'm not encouraging you to do things that you actually know are dangerous but if you get an acute heuristic reaction to something that you logically know is not actually very dangerous - like talking to the Ukrainian guy with the Maserati - that's your sign! I did a video on this topic a few years ago...

...about how to habituate heuristic decision-making.

Second...

Biohack general fear categorically

The side effect of ambition, doing things because they are hard and a lifestyle of pursuing challenges, is chronic anxiety - a background hum of stress and worry. In the current year, unless you're living in a war zone or struggling with a chronic illness that immediately threatens your life, there is no reason for you to suffer from chronic anxiety when there are so many options for Biohacking your anxiety...

• Meditation or a mindfulness practice.

• Exercise or weightlifting.

• Yoga, martial arts, or some flow-state-inducing activity like surfing.

• Cold showers.

• Taoist breathing techniques.

And of course, there are a lot of anxiolytic drugs that people use to deal with anxiety but the problem with almost all of them is that they also blunt performance and retard cognition; 500 milligrams of Phenibut will marvelously clear your head of all your worries in about 30-45 minutes but it will have a detrimental effect on your ability to do intellectual work.

Phenibut

Category: Nootropic Ingredients

Luckily there's a handful of Nootropics at the intersection of enhancing performance and assuaging or eliminating anxiety. I'll list them here in descending order of effectiveness, potency, and efficacy...

Nicotine - The creativity smart drug consistently lowers cortisol, the stress hormone. In my HRV self-quantification, I've found that it outperforms everything else in putting me into a coherent productive state of relaxed arousal.

Nicotine

Category: Nootropic Ingredients

Panax Ginseng - An adaptogenic medicinal herb of mythological potency for increasing stamina and a profound sense of well-being. Make sure you're getting the good stuff (it won't be cheap) and you'll enjoy the cooler cat you become.

Ginseng

Category: Nootropic Ingredients

Rhodiola -  This adaptogenic herbal stimulant has been used as an energy-boosting agent in Russia and China for centuries. It balances the autonomic nervous system, enhancing stress-management capacity along with empowering the immune system and combating fatigue.

Rhodiola

Category: Nootropic Ingredients

Ashwaghanda - Another historical Nootropic and a member of the Adaptogen family of natural performance enhancers that empower Biohackers to live vigorously. As a Nootropic, it helps with anxiety, insomnia, aging signs, and as an adaptogen to manage stress.

Ashwagandha

Category: Nootropic Ingredients

 Aniracetam - A hardcore smart drug that works on the AMPA receptor. A 2001 Japanese study demonstrated it as highly effective in treating anxiety.

Aniracetam

Category: Nootropic Ingredients

L-Theanine - The active tranquilizing ingredient that makes green tea calming, while at the same time interacting favorably with a range of Nootropic uppers.

L-Theanine

Category: Nootropic Ingredients

Kratom - I list this last because while it is very effective for some people's chronic anxiety, it does a have dark side for some. Some of the science indicates it may have a negative effect on cognition.

Kratom

Category: Nootropic Ingredients

So the wise Biohacker has a complex relationship with anxiety...

• They take on ambitious projects with a modicum of risk that will stimulate anxiety.
• They arbitrarily pursue things that viscerally scare them but are logically benign.
• They habituate stress management using a variety of Biohacking tools and supplements.

Check out this funky AI song I made about anxiety-beating adaptogens...