Fear – Your Most Fierce Business Competitor

I like talking about fear online simply because I’m afraid so often.

I also consider myself a bit of a risk taker. I’m not recklessly risky. But I’m definitely not against taking risks.

I think non-risk takers think that us risk takers are fearless. Nothing could be further from the truth. When I’m in the middle of a risk-taking transition I’m scared shitless.

I have no way of knowing this for sure, but I feel like I’m probably actually more afraid than most people. But the fear doesn’t shut me down. I just work the plan.

The way it works is this:

• I get an idea that excites me. (I’m usually in a safe, confident-feeling moment.)
• I talk it over with my wife and then some other advisers that I trust are not fear-motivated. (This is crucial. I have people in my life that are against all risk. I never take their advice. It is not useful.) My wife is the person I trust the most. She is able to see things clearer than anyone else I know.
• I sit on the idea for a few days.
• I come up with what goals will determine success and when those goals need to be reached. (I like to setup short-term, mid-term and long-term goals.)
• Then I throw myself into it.

This is when the fear sets in. Actually doing the thing is terrifying. On top of that, I’m usually afraid, off and on, through most of the process of the thing I’ve decided to do.

Training for a marathon is terrifying. I remember the first time I ran 8 miles. It was maybe the worst run of my life. I felt terrible. My feet bled. My nipples bled from rubbing against my shirt. I was out of breath. I ached.

I had a 10 mile run facing me the next weekend. I was so afraid of that run. I didn’t know how I was going to get through another 8 miles plus running 2 more. I was afraid all week. And I was definitely afraid that Saturday.

It turned out that run was unbelievably easy. I probably just needed to push through that 8 mile wall.

This is what I know about fear: It is the most dangerous part of all risk taking.

Fear clouds your judgement.

Fear constricts your blood flow.

Fear pushes your thoughts out of your cerebral cortex that plays a key role in memory, attention, perceptual awareness, thought, language, and consciousness. And forces your thought process into your Amygdala, your lizard brain, that only allows you to react through fight or flight.

I see terrified business owners all the time.

They yell. They thrash around. They make irrational decisions. I see it all the time.

The problem is, they are in the moment of the process and all their decisions are fight or flight. They forgot all the rational, clear-headed decision-making they had made earlier in their moment of clarity.

This is a crucial moment for you and your business.

If you start relying on the emotions you are feeling during the process of risk taking you significantly increase your chances of making the wrong choice. You have to make your decisions based on criteria you set up before you got into the mess you are currently in.

That’s why you make a marketing plan with objectives, goals, budgets and time frames. You make the plan in a time where your are relaxed and confident. Then come hell or high water you work that plan.

You also should set time frames that are reasonable. 3-6 months is good. Set a budget that you can live with.

In your moment of clarity you knew that the plan was a good one. You knew that you should give it 3 months to see if it would work. And you knew that if you could reach your goals you would continue down that path.

The worst time to make a decision is when you are freaking out.

You will undermine your best thoughts and plans if you don’t push yourself through the fear to the end of what you told yourself you would do in the first place.

And that’s why it’s said, “All we have to fear is fear itself.”

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