I think the problem here is that you want to have your cake and eat it, too. The short answer is: You can't have both. Either you do what you need to do, or you

I think the problem here is that you want to have your cake and eat it, too. The short answer is: You can't have both. Either you do what you need to do, or you fear for various bad consequences that might or might not happen in life and don't get things done. You can't expect bad things to happen to you when you do nothing, but you can't expect good things happen to you when you do nothing, either. If you fear it, then don't do it. E(x) = P(x) * Return(x) When you do nothing E(do_nothing) = 100% * 0 = 0, When you do something, try to evaluate E(do_something) = E(bad) + E(good), and see if E(do_something) > 0 or E(do_something) < 0.