Do it Afraid

One of the factors that holds us back from achieving our goals is fear—usually fear of the unknown. It's that point where we imagine the worst of a situation and try to stay on the safer side, and this has limited us from going for greater goals that are unfamiliar to our state of comfort.

At one point in my life, I was afraid of trying new things, not because I wasn't educated enough to handle them, but because I feared rejection. I stopped applying for jobs, I stuck to the things I was familiar with, and gave excuses for almost everything that was new. It was usually the question: "What if I fail or am rejected?" and that was enough to hold me back.

Fear is cancerous; it spreads and leaves no room for faith. I was supposed to start a business some years ago. I was funded, but then this familiar stranger came and filled my thoughts with the "what ifs." Gradually, I started to doubt the success of the business until I gave up even before it began. Fear looks like a safe place, but gradually it keeps us in that spot where growth does not find a resting ground.

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Overcoming fear

I was able to learn one secret that broke this bandage, and that was "doing it afraid." I admit I'm afraid, but I do it anyways. Humans fear so many things, and at one point it's normal to have that feeling, but we don't just listen to that voice—we go ahead and do it anyways.

Secondly, it was important to understand that rejection is a myth. All that happens is we tell ourselves stories. If we seek a job and do not get an appointment, everything remains the same. We didn't have a job before we applied, and we still didn't get a job after we applied. It only gets bad if we go around telling ourselves that we are not good enough. So there was never any rejection; the pain comes from what we tell ourselves.

Instead of responding negatively to people's "no," we can take each "no" as a platform to improve. All that we fear lives in our response to events. While fear lives, we should do it anyways.