INTRODUCTION: FEAR AS A PERSONAL JOURNEY -- the author shares her story of overcoming fear and how anyone can apply her program to their own life

CHAPTER 1: FEAR AS A WAY OF LIFE -- discusses where fear comes from and how it restricts our options in life...including:

• the toll fear takes
• how do you do fear?
• a wya of life, not a diagnosis
• is your fear adaptive or maladaptive?

CHAPTER 2: THE FIVE FEAR STYLES -- examines the different ways people have of expressing fear...including:

• fear style quiz
• shyness
• hypervigilance
• compliance
• machismo
• the controller
• fear -- a pattern you can change

CHAPTER 3: HOW A FEARFUL LIFESTYLE DEVELOPS -- takes a look at the origins of a fearful lifestyle...including:

• childhood loss and trauma
• subtle trauma -- no words for what happened
• temperament and genetics
• parental extremes
• under-protectiveness
• over-protectiveness
• where's the happy medium?
• parental expectations
• the family "atmos-fear"
• parental responses to world events
• current relationships -- helpful or harmful

CHAPTER 4: UNDERSTANDING THE CHANGE PROCESS -- discusses the process you will need to go through to change your fearful lifestyle...including:

• what you need to know about change
• approaching change with a good attitude
• fear as a core attitude
• realizing that you can change
• difficulties on the road to change
• unlearning what you already learned
• pockets of ignorance
• discounting what you know subliminally
• are you ready?

CHAPTER 5: STEPS FOR MANAGING YOUR MIND -- takes a look at some things you can do to regain control over fearful thoughts...including:

• small decisions, big decisions
• thinking or obsessing?
• escaping mental misery
• avoiding the paralysis of analysis
• enough is enough
• brainstorming in the opposite direction
• reframing the situation
• freeing yourself from the outcome
• cultivating a relaxed mind

CHAPTER 6: STEPS FOR ALTERING YOUR ATTITUDES -- outlines some actions you can take to change your fearful attitudes...including:

• limit your exposure to the media
• risk analysis
• delighting in difficulty
• making a molehill out of a mountain
• developing resilience and hardiness
• paying attention to your senses
• stepping outside of yourself

CHAPTER 7: STEPS FOR ENHANCING YOUR LANGUAGE -- examines some ways that you can change your words to get rid of your fears...including:

• how your words influence your state of mind
• managing your fear with "trigger" words
• developing your own voice
• self-talk that increases your fears
• softening your harsh inner critic
• avoiding should's and have-to's
• maintaining perspective

CHAPTER 8: STEPS FOR TRANSFORMING YOUR SPEECH PATTERNS -- looks at some actions that can shift your perception of fear by changing your talk...including:

• change how you describe your fear
• decide whose voice you'll listen to
• create a replacement strategy
• delving deeper into your fear
• restating the problem
• the "what if" man
• where do you end your sentence
• filtering the hurtful part
• appreciate the value of silence

CHAPTER 9: STEPS FOR TUNING INTO YOUR BODY -- outlines some steps you can take to pay attention to fear physical fear signals...including:

• what the body knows
• the physiology of fear
• recognizing your body response style
• hypersensitivity
• overreacting
• freezing up
• creating a good balance
• listen to your body
• try an eastern path
• reduce your overload
• circuit breakers

CHAPTER 10: STEPS FOR BEING FOOTLOOSE AND FEAR-FREE -- discusses some suggestions for lightening up and letting go of fear...including:

• breathing and muscle relaxing
• reducing fear incrementally
• learning to be still
• combining body movements with incompatible thoughts
• seek child's play for adults
• use music to change your mood
• trust your intuition
• freeing your body, freeing your actions

CHAPTER 11: STEPS FOR ACTING YOUR WAY OUT OF FEAR -- offers some tips for changing your behaviors to eliminate your fear...including:

• strengthening your self muscle
• getting into the mood
• identifying what you find fear-inducing
• role playing and guided imagery
• fake it till you make it

CHAPTER 12: STEPS FOR DOING ONE GUTSY THING -- outlines some ideas for pushing beyond your fear boundaries...including:

• the concept of OGT
• despite or even because of fear
• learning from the messages in children's stories
• deliberately choosing a different way
• making it happen
• don't try -- do it
• use the power of paradox
• keeping things simple
• getting organized
• staying open to life's possibilities

CHAPTER 13: FEAR LESS, LIVE MORE (TRUE STORIES OF METAMORPHOSIS) -- provides some real stories of people who have overcome their fear ...including:

• how will life be different when you master your fears
• life after fear
• angie -- the way it was, the way it is
• will -- a unique antidote to fear
• gabe -- impossible expectations
• maria -- viewing cancer through a wide-angle lens
• progress, not perfection

CHAPTER 14: OTHER APPROACHES TO HELP YOU MASTER YOUR FEARS -- offers some final suggestions for breaking through the fear barrier...including:

• psychotherapy
• the educational model versus the medical model
• psychotropic medications
• biofeedback
• eastern-style therapies
• massage
• resistence to these approaches