Fear is an emotion that we learned as we grow up into adulthood. When you look at children, you can sometimes hear mothers in conversation saying, “she’s fearless.” There is nothing she / her cannot do.

When did fear become the first thing that stops us from achieving your dreams and goals? Can you remember the first time when you were afraid? As a child going to the first day of school, your mother leaves you at the gate, that may be the first time you experience that emotion. You want to cry, run back to the safety of your mother and your home because that is the only place and person that you know, your family are the safety net. Suddenly you are thrown into this strange place with lots more other children and you are not familiar with. Yet, you learn to adapt, make new friends and feel comfortable and you are no longer afraid. You have learned something.

Next, going into primary school. This time it isn’t so traumatic as the first time when you went to kindergarten. The fear is there but not so intense this time. Again new friends are made and you go on with your life.

When you reach adulthood, it is easier to meet new acquaintances, new people, new faces without the first fear. It has now become the norm in your personal your life and in your work life.

Now you face new fears. When something unfamiliar comes into your life, fear will creep into your life. It could be short term or it could linger a little longer. What happens when fear becomes so big that it becomes a block in your life.

When you live a life of fear, the dreams that you had will never be achieved because you are too afraid to go for it. Maybe because you think you don’t have the tools, maybe you think you are not good enough yet, maybe you don’t want to fail or maybe you don’t want to succeed. When you have that fear running your life, you begin to feel unfulfilled, upset, and maybe regret.

Today, we live in a very different environment. We live in a society of fear. The virus that has made worldwide lockdown. A pandemic that has no cure. A virus that strikes so brutally that the once infected, you suffer a painful death. In just 6 months, we are still no where near a solution or cure. So, apart from the personal fears we have, we are now faced with this new fear, a new way of living, a new way of working. The fear of losing one’s job becomes very real.

So how do you overcome fear? How do you move forward?

With every unknown factor, where you are not able to see beyond, you will be uncomfortable and a fear will strike. Because you don’t know what is beyond what you cannot see. It is human nature to feel it. It is like death, we know that is certain but it is the beyond that we are afraid of. It is like a new project that you have been wanting to do but you keep putting it off making all sorts of excuses because you are afraid. What are you afraid of? Are you afraid that it might fail which would equate you in your mind as a failure or are you afraid that you might succeed? Everything that we do, there is a risk but it does not define you if you do not succeed the first time round. Yet most can identify themselves as a failure because the business did not do well. It is how you pick yourself up, what you have learned from the first business you did and how you can do it differently. You are not a failure, it’s the business that failed. The business and you are two different entities.

Fear is something that can be used as a gauge. If you are feeling fear, it means you are on the right track. It is normal to feel fear but do not let the fear overcome you. During this time, take a look within, what is it that you truly wanted to do and can you achieve it? If you can dream it, you can achieve it. The conversations you have been having in your mind, how many have you had with yourself? What did that come to? Just conversations? What do you benefit by letting fear control you? What are you gaining from it? What will you gain if you start?

Most of us do not start our dreams because we have already made up our minds on the conclusion. The conversation is always, “What if I don’t succeed?” The statement should be, “I will succeed!” When you think in the negative, you have already failed. Every successful person who has achieved their dreams, have always set their dreams, set their goals and plan to get there. It’s the conversation of “How long before I achieve my dream?”

If you want to start a business, have a long term goal. Now is a good time to start. If not now, when?