One Rule That Helps Me Beat Procrastination and Fear 🥊
Issue #125: How Ali Abdaal’s 10/10/10 Rule helps me stop overthinking. Overcome Fear of Getting Started. Progress is Dopamine.
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In 2010, a young rock climber named Alex Honnold stood at the base of El Capitan.
3000 feet of sheer rock. No rope. No harness. No second chances.
He was about to "free solo" one of the hardest climbs in the world.
Scary, right?
But here’s the wild part.
Alex wasn’t fearless. His brain felt fear just like yours or mine.
He just trained himself to manage it.
To keep his mind from running wild with “What if I fall?” thoughts.
And to focus on the climb, one move at a time.
How?
By practicing a trick called cognitive reappraisal.
In simple words: teaching your brain to see things as they really are.
Not as the big scary story it’s telling you.
And guess what?
You don’t need to climb mountains to use this trick.
You can do it with something called the 10/10/10 Rule.
It comes from Ali Abdaal’s book Feel-Good Productivity. And it works like magic.
You know how sometimes we blow things way out of proportion?
Like…
You get rejected by someone you like. And your brain goes:
“I’ll be alone forever!”
You don’t get hired for a job. Suddenly it’s:
“I’ll never get another job! I’ll be homeless!”
Or you fail your first driving test and think:
“I’m a terrible driver! I’ll never pass!”
Sound familiar?
(I’m raising my hand here.)
Our brains LOVE to catastrophize. It’s wild.
But the 10/10/10 Rule helps you snap out of it.
Here’s how it works.
Next time you catch yourself spiraling, ask:
Will this matter in 10 minutes?
Will this matter in 10 weeks?
Will this matter in 10 years?
Simple, right?
But super powerful.
Let’s walk through it.
Say you get rejected by someone you like.
10 minutes: Yeah, it stings. You feel kinda low.
10 weeks: You’ll probably have moved on. Maybe even met someone new.
10 years: You won’t even remember this person’s name.
Or say you don’t get hired for a job.
10 minutes: Disappointed. Maybe frustrated.
10 weeks: You’ve applied to other jobs. Probably got interviews lined up.
10 years: This will be a tiny blip in your career. You’ll laugh about it.
One more: You fail your first driving test.
10 minutes: Embarrassed.
10 weeks: You’ve retaken it. Passed. Driving around town.
10 years: You tell the story for fun at a dinner party.
See what I mean?
Most of the stuff we freak out about won’t matter that much in the grand scheme of things.
The 10/10/10 Rule is like giving your fear a reality check.
Now, I know what you might be thinking…
“But what if my fear really IS a big deal?”
Totally fair. Still try this. Even big fears lose their sharpness when you zoom out over time.
“I can’t think clearly when I’m panicking.”
That’s normal. Write the 10/10/10 questions down somewhere. Have them handy. Ask a friend to remind you.
“This sounds too simple.”
That’s exactly why it works. When your brain is spiraling, you don’t need complex. You need simple.
So here’s my challenge for you:
Next time fear grabs you — whether it’s about work, relationships, or life — pause.
Take a breath.
And ask yourself:
Will this matter in 10 minutes?
Will this matter in 10 weeks?
Will this matter in 10 years?
Write it down if you need to.
Then keep moving forward. One step at a time.
🚀 Growth Tip
If you want to hear it straight from Ali on how to overcome fear, definitely watch his YouTube video here:
🤩 Inspiration
The feeling of progress is one of the best feelings of all. This is true even when progress is small.
— James Clear
👋 Until next time, Anil / CEO and Co-Founder of Multidots, Multicollab, and Dotstore.
May the Peaceful Growth be with you! 🪴
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