You become harder to intimidate once you’ve survived what you once feared most.

Fear of a specific thing is largely fear of an unknown, and once the thing has happened, it stops being unknown. You now have a real measurement rather than an imagined one, and real measurements tend to be smaller and more survivable than the versions your mind produced. That is why people who have been through difficult things are often noticeably harder to frighten. They have data.

When something intimidates you, ask what you have already survived that is comparable in weight. Be specific rather than general. Your own history is usually more reassuring than anything anyone else can tell you.