In the School of Life they talk about childhood coping mechanisms being a fantastic way to survive when you’re 5 but can prove problematic when you enter the adult world.
Like you can’t go and hide in the toilet every time your boss arrives to work complaining of traffic and looking grumpy.
But what I think is interesting is when fear evolves into values.
For example take two people Freda and Fred.
Both grew up never feeling good enough.
Now Fred channels that fear into his career and has become a workaholic.
Whether as Freda channeled that fear into her emotional intelligence and is resolving those fears with her therapist.
Fred is going to run himself into the ground without knowing why.
Freda recognizes her drive to ever improve but is pointing it in the direction she wants it to go.
Another example is Michael Jordan. At some point he realized the competitiveness he honed fighting his siblings for his father’s attention could result in massive wealth and status in professional basketball.
Thomas Duggan 