Castaneda asks Don Juan, “And what can he do to overcome fear?” Don Juan replies, “The answer is very simple. He must not run away. He must defy his fear, and in spite of it must take the next step in learning, and the next, and the next. He must be fully afraid, and yet he must not stop. That is the rule! And a moment will come when his enemy (fear) retreats. The man begins to feel sure of himself. His intent becomes stronger. Learning is no longer a terrifying task. When this joyful moment comes, the man can say without hesitation that he has defeated his first natural enemy.” Castaneda asks if it happens all at once or little by little? Don Juan says, “It happens little by little, and yet fear is vanquished suddenly and fast.” What is Creator’s perspective?

This is the portrait of someone who has a solid emotional foundation and unhindered talents and wherewithal to bounce back after a setback, and reapply their efforts with greater intensity and resolve to keep going and overcome prior failings. So the whole focus here is, in a sense, applying the force of will to achieve a desired goal despite the cost along the way of living with increased fear from putting oneself on the line, at risk of being criticized, or one's efforts rejected altogether. This is a weak answer to the problem because only some have inner strength and balance to remain strong when faced with the many difficulties hurled at them by life and its challenges. Most people will be beaten down by repeated failures and will settle for less lofty goals more in keeping with their perceived limitations they come to believe are unalterable. Most such criticism is unfair because it is meted out in a way that is reacting to temporary conditions and circumstances, but with the danger it will be embraced as a definition of one's being and carried lifelong, even though most of such experiences happen early in life when the person is not even fully developed and fully expressing all their talents and capabilities, because many are developmentally dependent on reaching a certain maturity before they become expressed. So there is a great level of ignorance by educators. Even though they see the reality of varied levels of competence being age-related, they nonetheless are manipulated to force people to fit into the same mold. What is needed is a saner approach to begin with, but also an ongoing awareness people need tools to cope with their fear and extinguish it beyond simply relying on willpower alone. The seeds of awareness about resolving inner trauma have been planted and are flourishing among some healers. That is what needs to be supported and advocated strongly for people of all ages, because it is a way of reclaiming their personal power through having a way to accomplish effective self‑healing that is required in order for willpower to work. People cannot simply decide to be successful and then succeed through the strength of determination alone. Fear can be too great to allow that to happen. But when fear is emptied of its power and released, that leaves strength intact and will allow willpower to do its intended job.