Michelle Khare

To face my fear of being perceived as unintelligent, I studied with chess masters until I hit 1,000 ELO.

It took me 10 months.

To face my fear of confrontation, I trained with an Olympian to box in front of 12,000 screaming fans.

I bloodied my teeth, I broke my nose, but I won the match.

And to face my fear of being perceived as unfunny, I joined a professional clowning troupe.

And I'll be honest, there's nothing scarier than standing in front of a group of strangers trying to make them laugh while looking like this.

And people really responded.

The show has amassed 850 million views.

Now, fear exists for a good reason.

It's to protect us from danger.

Sometimes fear means, hey, if you do this, you will die.

But oftentimes, I have found we take that way too far.

Fear doesn't always mean stop.

Sometimes it means go.

Here's an example.

A couple of years ago, I became obsessed with Harry Houdini and his deadliest trick, the water torture cell.

Bound in chains, locked upside down in a glass box filled to the brim with water, Houdini would escape with a single breath.

How could anyone be this brave?

So it became my mission to attempt this act to confront my fear of drowning.

Now, the average person can hold their breath for 30 to 60 seconds, but for this stunt, I needed a breath hold of three minutes.