Making things not so scary

Whenever I was faced with exploring new territory such as: meeting new people, going to a new part of town, learning to drive, etc. I felt like just avoiding these new experiences altogether, but I knew I couldn't if I wanted my life to go somewhere.
Since these were new things in my life I couldn't relate it to anything already in my life, which is usually what I would do to make them less intimidating, so I figured that I would have to implement that familiarity into what I was doing. I did this by rewarding myself afterwards by going to a store or restaurant that I had already been to. This gave me something to look forward to while dealing with stressful new situations. It made them a little less alien.


While I am for the most part intrinsically motivated I still do this on occasion even though I'm not as afraid of new things as I used to be, it's not just a coping method it's also a great motivator for when I have to do things I find particularly stressful, like job interviews, but most of the time just knowing that I accomplished my goal that day is a reward in itself, so I don't always feel the need to buy food or shop afterwards anymore.​