The Fear Project

What Our Most Primal Emotion Taught Me About Survival, Success, Surfing...and Love

By: Jaimal Yogis

Narrated by: Jaimal Yogis

An epic adventure full of incredible characters, death-defying athletic achievement, and bleeding edge science, The Fear Project began with one question: how can we overcome our fears to reach our full potential? Who among us has not been paralyzed by fear? In The Fear Project, award-winning journalist and surfer Jaimal Yogis sets out to better understand fear - why does it so often dominate our lives, what makes it tick, and is there even a way to use it to our advantage? In the process, he plunges listeners into great white shark-infested waters, brings them along to surf 40-foot waves in the dead of winter, and gives them access to some of the world's best neuroscience labs, psychologists, and extreme athletes. In this entertaining, often laugh-out-loud narrative, Yogis also treats himself like a guinea pig for all of his research, pushing his own fears repeatedly to the limits - in his sport, in his life, and in love. Ultimately, Yogis shares with his listeners the best strategies to emerge triumphant from even the most paralyzing of fears. The Fear Project gives listeners insight into the following: How fear evolved in the human brain; How to tell the difference between "good fear" and "bad fear"; How to use the latest neuroscience to transform fear memories; Why fear spreads between us and how to counteract fearful "group think"; How to turn fear into a performance enhancer - athletically and at work; In pursuing this terrifying - and often thrilling - journey with Yogis, we learn how to move through fear and unlock a sense of renewed possibility and a more rewarding life.

©2013 Jaimal Yogis (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

Please no more surfers performing an audiobook

What made the experience of listening to The Fear Project the most enjoyable?

The content

What didn’t you like about Jaimal Yogis’s performance?

The way he downed his tone in the end of a lot of sentences, he sounded like he was talking to his surfer buddies. Nothing wrong with that, but not what i like for listening to in an 5 hour-audiobook.

good book but narrator sounded one step from sleep

struggle to stay awake. great book but the narrator was over soothing. Loved the story though

Insightful, Inspiring, perfect narration

Any additional comments?

The Fear Project is participatory journalism that is insightful and heartfelt. The book is well researched without being overly academic, and deeply personal without losing its broader applicability. Yogis narration is spot on, the perfect compliment to his book.

Intellectually and emotionally engaging

Would you consider the audio edition of The Fear Project to be better than the print version?

I believe so, although I have not read the print edition. I believe this to be true because I was able to feel the authors emotion through the inflection and intonation of his reading. I generally like author-read non-fiction better than even famous actors because no one can deliver the non-verbal, emotive undertones better than the author. Jaimal, in particular, reveals the passion he feels for the subjects with honesty, fluidity and confidence.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Fear Project?

I was moved by several portions of the text. Perhaps because Yogis touches on such a fundamental human experience as feeling fearful, and because I could relate so strongly, I found several sections to be deeply engaging. When Jaimal reveals his own humanity, by vividly describing his own experience - I feel drawn in. Descriptions of his experience at Mavericks and holding his newborn son in a beam of sunlight will stick with me in particular. Yogis is skilled at drawing his audience into his experience.
Another scene from the book stuck with me as well: while surfing with Doc in a hidden location in Northern California, Yogis contemplates deity and the meaning of life - in a way so very similar to my own experiences, only with the medium at hand: the waves. Waves, being a physical manifestation of energy within a medium remind Yogis, and certainly some readers, of what life is - a brief concentration of energy within matter. These lines harmonized with my own thoughts so brilliantly - it remains a shining point from the text.

What about Jaimal Yogis’s performance did you like?

The humanity that bleeds between the words of his performance. Subtle changes in his inflection and emphasis reveal the depth of his involvement and investment in clearly communicating his topic. These subtle performance "gems" lure the listener deeper into what Jaimal is communicating and thus enjoyment of the book becomes that much stronger.

What’s an idea from the book that you will remember?

This is the intellectual facet of my experience with "The Fear Project". I feel empowered with useful ways to think about, address, and face my fears because of this title. With foundations in modern neuroscience the intellectual arguments are well founded and elegantly argued. I will be able to carry with me tools to address fear, promote positivity, and generally change my life-outlook for the better, because I had the opportunity to listen to this book.

Any additional comments?

For anyone who deals with anxiety and fear, I believe this book will provide a fresh outlook and actual, tangible tools to apply to your life and its complexity. I highly recommend it and am grateful for my opportunity to experience it.

Excellent

As a scientist who studies fear, I found this book to be a refreshing discussion of the topic framed in real.wirks developmental issues.

Worst narration

Bruh I have read all your books. Love you like family but, you suck as a reader. Haha next time pay a professional.

Great book with poor narration

Great story, but the narration kills the whole experience. I do not understand why the author would not use services of an profesional.

Sadly, not the book for me.

If this book were free, maybe I wouldn't be as critical... but because I paid $17 for it, I won't hold back.
From the very start, I was struggling to stay interested. The stories, I'm sure, in real life were epic and dangerous for the individuals involved, but from readers point of view I felt very little connection or intrigue. The language seemed to jump back and forth from sort of a college student tone to a modern youth slang, which kept changing the pattern of thought. The performance was very monotone and unconvincing, which is only a downside if you are listening not reading.
And the biggest let down was the level of depth when it came to the actual point of the book, understanding fear in our lives. It was just a basic surface level discovery, with what seemed to me as mostly common sense.

Pretty great subject and writing, bad narration

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes. We all have fears, but from very different things, with which we deal very differently. This book helped me understand a lot about the mechanics of a feeling we never get educated about, but that permeates every decision we make, from whether you ever want to skydive to whether you'll ask the hottest girl you know out or settle for an okay girl who's already into you. I think that after listening to this, I may have learned that I want a lot of things i was keeping away from because of fear, and how working towards confronting those fears, instead of avoiding then, may lead me to enjoying life a whole lot more.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Probably the doc. Damn cool guy.

What three words best describe Jaimal Yogis’s voice?

Low, mumbly, jumbled.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

His son's birth.

Any additional comments?

The book is great, but the narration is a mixed bag. There are a lot of personal experiences in it, which make the fact that the author is the one narrating them great. But throught the book, Yogis prioritizes gravity instead of clarity in his reading, frequently dropping his voice to a mumble, and not just for dramatic emphasys - this happens when explaining relatively simple concepts too. Couple this with his sometimes jumbled speech, and I had to rewind A LOT in order to understand many points, a couple of which I eventually gave up on.

Fear this!

Would you try another book from Jaimal Yogis and/or Jaimal Yogis?

No

What could Jaimal Yogis have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Share more real-life/real-world experiences

What didn’t you like about Jaimal Yogis’s performance?

It drones on in a monotone of ibid/obsit selections from a library of other people's research and experiences

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

Face your fears and deal with them head-on

Any additional comments?

The book is a largely a compilation of other people's work and less about the author's real-life experiences. It is more of a forensic chemistry tutorial than the inspirational book I hoped it to be.