It is no wonder that I missed Tim’s point completely, and that really wasn’t my intent. I was hoping to summarize and put into a differing perspective what he prescribed. Nothing to argue with you there.

It is more likely my approach that needs clarification and re-realization. Not my subject matter. I do not fear success nor personal responsibility. In fact, I was hoping to outline at least success as a byproduct of taking falls gracefully, rather than taking those falls to enforce a lackluster approach to other tasks later on.

Ben: My theory is now irrelevant.

Firstly, the intent and message presented by Tim Ferris has been given a miss by your article. The intent is to define what you fear and then confront that fear, in so doing the message will come through that you can still achieve great things even if your fears are realized.

Understanding that “Bad things” are a product of fear is key to the message that Tim Ferris presents. This is learned knowledge for Mr. Ferris. He learned this concept from a Roman philosopher, Seneca, who suggested that one should face his or her fears to reduce the paralyzing effect of fear. Thus, allowing yourself to better take risk and accept success.

In the idea you present, “Letting little bad things happen,” you display an open fear of success, in that you are accepting failure openly so that you will not be required to follow through on difficult things later. When you allow yourself to determine the level of pain that a bad thing will cause so you can then “let it happen” you only succeed in increasing your tolerance for pain due to perceived “Bad things;” further, you allow greater and greater bad things to cause you pain due to your heightened tolerance for pain.

In conclusion, you seem to fear two things greater and more powerful than the “Bad things” you mentioned. You display an open fear of success and personal responsibility.