We all have a worst fear—something that haunts us, even if it seems irrational. For April Shprintz, it’s smelling bad, whether body odor or bad breath—a fear she’s carried since her military days. Last week, at a fancy business event, her worst fear became real: she realized she stank. Panic set in, but she didn’t freeze. She quickly thought through solutions, acted, and took control of the situation. By the end of the night, she was back socializing, helping people, and even enjoying herself. That experience taught her something powerful: even fears that feel overwhelming can be handled. And if she could face her worst fear, what else could she overcome?
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The Night My Worst Fear Came True
The Origin Of The Irrational Fear
I am so glad you’re here. I have to ask you a question. Do you have an irrational fear? Something that you are nervous about, you worry about, you think about way more than you should, because I do. I’ve had it since I was about eighteen years old and in the military. It is the fear of smelling bad, which sounds so weird. I fear that I’m gonna have body odor from working out. I really fear having bad breath, and I know that comes from all the years I spent in the military, where middle-aged white guys, sorry you all, would lean over me and talk, who had been smoking cigarettes, drinking coffee, and I swear didn’t floss.
Their breath was just awful. I was at an age where I didn’t feel like I could say anything. I just felt like I had to endure it. I have had this crazy fear of ever doing that to somebody. Same thing with like, just body odor. Last week I was at this amazing business event that I do once a year. I go help out, give lots of business advice to folks. It is just a wonderful thing, and they kick it off with a fancy dinner.
That day had been a little interesting. I’m in San Diego, and we just did a whole bunch of things on that day. The last thing we did was run down to the beach and then come back up these really intense stairs on a cliff. It was a great workout. I was sweating and all that fun stuff, was going to run into the room, shower, and then go to the event.
I had a client who needed me and was also at the event, and was in a really tough place. I ran over to meet with her in my workout clothes, and by the time I was done talking to her, I didn’t have time to shower. I just quick run in and I’m like, blow dry the hair a little bit, put on some deodorant, go for it, because I didn’t think anything of it, because I didn’t think I’d sweated that bad.
Yet I get to the event, everyone’s dressed really fancy, talking to someone, and all of a sudden I catch a whiff of myself, and I’m like, “I think FBO.” I ran out of the event towards the bathroom, lifted my arm, and smelled my armpit, and yeah, it did not smell good. Luckily, my other half was there, and I pulled him over just in case I was being paranoid.
What was so powerful about facing my worst fear was realizing, “I can handle even the worst thing.” The first thing I did was come up with solutions. I didn’t freeze, didn’t think I had to leave, and didn’t feel the need to overcompensate, which would… Share on XLet me tell you how close you’ve got to being someone to do this. I said, “Listen, I think I stink. I need you to smell my armpit and tell me if I do.” He did, and I did. Literally, I stink. I am supposed to be helping people, socializing with them, and my worst fear has come true. I stink. I always thought, “What would I do? It’s terrible. I’ll panic.” I was like, “How can I solve this?” I said, “Here’s the thing. This is just the cocktail hour. The dinner hasn’t started. We will walk back to the room. I will take this cardigan off,” because I had a cardigan over like a cami, and I will wash the armpits, blow-dry them, and go back.
We ran back to the room, and even better news, it wasn’t the sweater that smelled. It was just me. I didn’t even have to wash the sweater. I just had to wash the hell out of my armpits. I know I’m not proud of this, you all, but I just want to be real, because this is a real fear, even though it was irrational, and it happened. Here’s what was so cool. I didn’t freeze. I didn’t paralyze.
The worst thing happened, and I don’t actually think someone other than my poor significant other smelled me, but if they did, it was very brief. I went, and I was able to fix it. What was so powerful about that experience of my worst fear is that I was like, “I can even handle the worst thing.” The first thing I did was come up with solutions. I didn’t freeze. I didn’t think I had to leave. I didn’t think I had to necessarily change because that would have drawn more attention to it.
The Ultimate Takeaway
I came up with solutions, executed on the solutions, and I was fine. Here’s the takeaway. Even the thing that you are the most terrified of, and I get it, it feels so real, is something you can handle. If you can handle even your worst fear,what does that mean about everything else that you worry about?
If it happens, you’re going to be able to handle it. Let’s be clear, worrying about things the same way that I worried about this for years and years is basically praying for it to happen because we get what we focus on. What if you imagine that even if your worst fear came true, you could handle it, you would have solutions, and you would be fine? I went back to the dinner party, and I was able to help lots of people, and it was a fantastic weekend.
A funny story, because I love sharing with people when something embarrassing or crazy or what have you happened to me, and everything was okay. When these kinds of things happen, we all think we’re the only ones. We all think we’re the only one who has this crazy fear. We all think we’re the only ones who did the silly thing, and you’re not. Not a lot of people talk about it, but everyone experiences it. You can handle whatever comes your way. Here’s to your success.
