Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway (Paperback)

by Susan Jeffers (Author) "I am about to teach another fear class.`..." (more)
Key Phrases: Higher Self, Subconscious Mind, No-Lose Model (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal
YA Jeffers discusses the crippling effects of fear in her personal life and explains how she formulated a course of action for conquering it. Her answers are simple, her course of action difficult only because it requires courage. She explains how fear is based on the uncertainty of change and the lack of positive self image. She avoids psychological lingo, and includes many case studies about careers and changes in personal lifeboth of which are beginning to cause anxiety in many teens. Her message is reassuring: choices are not opportunities to make mistakes, but valid paths to growth, whichever path we take. She addresses the fundamental cause of fearthe belief that ``I can't handle it!'' Feel the Fear is an important book, for while some young people are more crippled by insecurity that others, many do believe that the path to adulthood is fraught with dangers. Fear is doubtlessly a handicap with which they must learn to cope. Jennifer John Reavis, Episcopal High School, Bellaire
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal
Based on a course taught at the New School for Social Research, this book offers readers a clear-cut plan for action that, when followed, should help them unlearn their misconceptions about of fear and replace them with attitudes of strength and conviction. By mixing positive thinking with situational exercises that examine basic fear responses, psychologist Jeffers shows that fear is what you make of it and that in most cases it is unfounded. She also illustrates key points through examining case studies, which show that when we are fearful, faulty thinking is most often the real culprit; when such thinking is corrected, the fear is gone. This book by no means offers a quick, fix-it course, as the author encourages return visits to the text when situations call for it. Recommended for general self-help collections. Robert L Jaquay, William K. Sanford Town Lib., Loudonville, N.Y.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books; First Thus edition (April 12, 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0449902927
• ISBN-13: 978-0449902929
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (181 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #35,373 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

294 of 315 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars How to bury the lead in an otherwise hopeful book, December 14, 2006

By	Gary D. Collier "indy thinker" (IN) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This won't be a popular review because it will go against the flood of praises. Actually, I wanted to like this book. I came to it with very high hopes only to be greatly disappointed and even somewhat irritated. Despite its enormous popularity, I have difficulty recommending this book because it buries one of its main agendas in the later chapters, and that agenda undercuts the value of the whole.

I intend no negative comments against the author, and certainly, the 12 chapters have useful information. I especially liked the Pain to Power chart concept in chapter 3, and there are other useful things as well, especially in the first 7 or 8 chapters.

However, starting on page 154 (chapter 9) the book begins a gradual descent into a hazy cave of vagueness in which metaphysics, the universe, fate, life, intuition, the Laws of Universal Energy, and other such things emerge as if living entities. Actually, a good summary of the book's solution to fear is this: "With the Law of Universal Energy on your side, you can learn to trust not only the universe, but yourself." (p. 196) Further, the author states outright a goal to "whet your appetite, so you will be eager to learn more. I urge you to look at the laws of the universe as postulated by metaphysicians." Instead of hiding this on p. 204, this statement should have been on p 1.

If you're into all the metaphysical stuff, you'll probably love this book. If you're not, you might have trouble with it, like I did. When I started the book, I was eager to learn. By the end, reading statements like the following, I was eager to get to another book:

"The way I use the word [spiritual] will be acceptable to you whether you are religious or an atheist" (p 191). Also, "For those of you who are religious and/or believe in God, you will see how these ideas can be incorporated in your beliefs. And, as I said, earlier, if you don't believe in God, these laws apply as well" (p 205).

At best, these statements show a bit of naiveté; at worst, they are an attack on one's intelligence. The word "spiritual" is defined as little different from "emotional," and the attempt to be all things to all people by essentially claiming that whether one is an atheist or a theist of some sort will be irrelevant to "the Law of Universal Energy" is not only annoying, it is almost incomprehensible.

Had I known the last 4 chapters were going to ground all of the "get over your fears" in the metaphysical stuff, I would not have bought or read the book. It seemed to me a back-handed way to drag people into dubious philosophy. For me, it's a deal-killer.

78 of 87 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Poorly organized and uninformative self-help book, April 27, 2009

By	darkjedi008 - See all my reviews

A poorly put together book with limited ability to actually help someone who requires concrete ideas and facts to bolster their understanding and knowledge of a situation in order to help. The authors delves too much into the metaphysical, pseudo-science, faith-based world and fails to flesh out the more interesting details.

The book comes off as superficial and incapable of helping someone who is not faith-based. The author attempts to coin awkward phrases to explain otherwise helpful intuitive concepts. There are better self-help books that actually teach as opposed to coddle the reader with benign phrases and ideas.

77 of 88 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Simplistic and inane, April 27, 2009

By	Kelly K. Sink (Beaverton, OR United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The only problem this book is going to help you solve is what to do with that extra $[...] in your pocket. If you have real problems with fear [...] then you should seek qualified and competent professional help, but if you have the sort of fear this book can help you with then everything you need to know is in the title.
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