“Real courage is being scared to death and saddling up anyway.” — John Wayne
I want you to snap and do something after reading this article… or else don’t even bother reading it!
When I hear from readers or friends, the story is usually the same.
“I would love to do that, BUT…”
Self-doubt and fear of failure get in the way to ruin everything.
The person either doesn’t fully have the self-confidence or is too afraid of failure to do anything. Most of us are afraid of making fools of ourselves. Not me. I make a fool of myself all of the time because I’m not afraid of trying new things.
We looked at how to overcome fear already. Today, you’re going to see how you can conquer your self-doubt when trying something new (new business, goal, gym, date, etc.).
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What’s my most recent story of destroying fear when trying something new?
After a wild summer, I decided to try something new in September. I had decided to sell my condo and had moved back home. Around the same time a new gym opened, Battle Arts Academy, close to my home. This gym would be co-owned by a WWE wrestler and would offer pro wrestling training. I figured that since I had been a fan of pro wrestling forever, I would join and give it a try. I had nothing to lose, right?
“December 21st will be our first show.” — The announcement was made.
What? Wait! I didn’t agree to this. I was just here to train and have some fun. I didn’t realize that I had to step up to the plate and pro wrestling in front of a crowd of 300-400 people. Yikes!
I didn’t even have gear or anything, so I just went out there in my shorts.
So here I am attempting to wrestle in my MMA shorts.
I eventually upgraded my outfit and grew my hair out a bit more.
Long story short: if I can figure out how to wrestle topless in front of a crowd, you can launch a new site or create a plan to pay off debt.
It’s easy to be a little bitch. It’s easy to post inspirational quotes on social media and feel good about yourself. It takes effort to actual start something and follow through with it all the way.
Sometimes you just have to snap.
“If you don’t ship, you actually haven’t started anything at all. At some point, your work has to intersect with the market. At some point you need feedback as to whether or not it worked. Otherwise, it’s merely a hobby.” – Seth Godin
We have been talking about the idea of chasing dreams and following your ideas.
The first step is taking care of your finances and working towards financial freedom.
The next step is to JUST LAUNCH.
You need to do something. Take a risk. Take a chance.
How have experts conquered self-doubt when it comes to launching?
On our other blog, Start Freelancing Now, we looked at the idea of finally launching. The first entry is from the original article that sparked this whole conversation.
Misha of Making It Anywhere:
“We decided to write a blog because we knew we were living a bit of an unusual lifestyle, and we wanted to have a way of making friends with other people doing the same thing!
There wasn’t really a finally aspect to it: we decided to write a blog in mid-June 2012, and it was up and running by the end of that month.”
Jeff Rose of Good Financial Cents (awesome dude with a blog you need to read):
“I crush fear by reminding myself what others told me in the past. My high school English teacher told me I was an average writer at best. I’d like to send her a copy of my book. My former mentor who hired me as a junior advisor told me I was “making the biggest mistake of my life” when I left to start my own financial planning firm. That was 5 years ago and my income has increased 8x since I left. I don’t let fear creep in and let me think that I fail.
My fear is asking myself: what happens if I don’t do this?
That gives me the drive to take on anything knowing that I’m either going to succeed or learn something very valuable along the way.”
Doug Heacock on Zen Habits talking how to conquer your fears:
“Write down something you are afraid of, some fear you want to overcome, and make a list of three small steps you think you CAN make to begin facing up to your fear. Choose one and do it tomorrow.”
Chris Guillebeau over at shares a four-step mantra that he refers to when he feels like giving up:
“I can do it.
I could always have a regular life somewhere.
But I’ve chosen a different path.
And I won’t give up.”
Steve Kamb of Nerd Fitness on how to conquer any fear:
“Want another way to make it impossible to back out of something scary? Make a public declaration. All of a sudden it’s not just you you’re letting down, but a whole BUNCH of people if you chicken out. You can also make a big investment, either with your time or money, that will make backing out that much more painful than actually going through with it.”
Ramit Sethi on overcoming fears:
“It’s so easy to stay in the shadows. It’s COMFORTABLE there. Nobody looks at you, and nobody points at you and laughs. But you also never take a risk to stand out and try something new. Which would you rather have? A safe life where nobody points at you…and you’re the same as everyone else? Or would you be willing to take a small risk — not a huge one, just a small one — and dip your toe in the waters of trying something new?”
Sean Ogle on what could be killing your business:
“When you’re first getting your start online, I’m a firm believer that you should pick one project or business model and ride that out until you’re absolutely confident in your ability to take on something new.”
Betsy over at Passing Thru wrote about fear soup:
“Fear soup spoils a courageous main course when it is ingested and digested by people who care too much about what other people think. They let the opinions of others diminish their self-worth.”
JD Roth on action and fear:
“But saying yes isn’t enough by itself. To cure fear, you must take action. Action cures fear. Action primes the pump. When we’re prepared, we feel competent. When we feel competent, we feel confident. When we’re confident, our fears fade into the background.”
What can you do right now?
Something. Anything. Financial freedom isn’t all about money. It’s about creating an ideal lifestyle. It’s about being different and doing different things. It’s not about being a mindless drone.
What are some ideas for conquering fear and destroying self-doubt right now?
- Open up a conversation with an attractive stranger.
- Join a new sport.
- Share a controversial view on social media (nothing illegal or flat-out stupid).
- Start a blog to share your ideas.
- Make a fool out of yourself. Start singing a love song in public, say something silly, or just drop your guard.
Boom. No more excuses.
Join The Dream Catchers Series:
The YES! Test.
Why you need to show the middle finger to dream-crushers.
Why it’s insane to not even try chasing a passion.
The $1k rule for chasing dreams.
How-to make a lifestyle change without going homeless.
How one dude sold his business for millions.
“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.” — Nelson Mandela
Aloha Martin – You’re right that it’s so much easier not to act. But, failure to act morphs into regret, and regret can be overwhelming when it’s too late. Thanks for the mention. 🙂
That’s an excellent point Betsy. Regret is the worst feeling in the world. I made it a personal goal to live with no regrets. Always say what’s on your mind and do what you say you’re going to do.
All of the good in my life has happened by just doing something. I pulled over my future husband when he was walking past my work desk to keep me company. I started blogging despite not having any idea what to do. I started pet sitting by posting on Craigslist and took it from there. Life is lived by just living it.
That’s a really cool story. Kudos to having the guts to live Crystal!
Congratulations! Such an inspiring story. I had a meeting recently that I was super scared about, so I made sure to arrive early and strike a powerful pose on the bathroom stall for 5 minutes or so before I walked in. It sounds silly, but it works!
Hey I like that! Showing up early is always smart too. How did the meeting go?
Love the post. That “snap” is really important. People allow way too many obstacles to slow them down. If you are sure you want to do something, just bear down and do what it takes. You’ve done a great job exploring this idea!
Thanks for the comment! Have you snapped lately?
I absolutely loved this post! I could relate to it on so many levels and clearly see what has been holding me back. Thanks for writing this!
I really like that quote by John Wayne. Lots of other good quotes too. It’s easy to think of ideas and hard to execute, so you gotta be serious about taking action.
Hell yeah! There’s no sense in beating around the bush. The beauty about taking action is that you don’t have to do it all of the time. You just have to do it when it matters the most.
I’ve been a planner all my life and in July, me and few friends are gong to drive a car from London to Mongolia with no return flights booked in advance. I don’t know how it will turn out, but I’m excited to see how I’ll end up.
Also this trip is pushing myself out of the comfort zone of what I’ve been used to traveling. There’s going to be overland boarder crossing, camping in the middle of no where, I’m expecting the unexpected.
I’m so excited for this trip. I hope to see stories and pictures get posted!