11 Ways to Turn Fear into Fuel & Live off your Passion

I’ve helped develop dozens of really sharp bloggers and entrepreneurs over the past couple years. Folks who had real talent. They could write like rock stars, they could connect, they could think big, they had so much potential. But for one reason or another they decided to stop.

Your biggest risk of fear is giving up.

Do you realize what that means? It means you’re in control. It means you get to decide whether you experience victory or not. It means dreams are miles more attainable than you think. It means that doing work we are passionate about can be reality if we want it badly enough.

There are a million and one things that we can’t control. People, random occurrences, circumstances, stock market crashes, the list goes on.

But none of them hold a candle anywhere near the effect your decision to stay in the game has on your success.

The crazy thing is most of us already know this.

So why do so many people still give up on their dreams?

Simply put, it’s scary going after what matters. There’s doubt. There are people who tell you can’t do it. People who tell you you’re stupid. People who even try to get you to think you’re stupid. Then you might even start to believe it.

It can be brutal. In fact it always is. In the hundreds of one-on-one consultation I’ve done, there is not a single story of success that did not come out of massive fear, doubt and downright nasty prospects for victory. That life.

The going is going to be tough. The world-changers decide to do it anyway.

Something I recently read from Howard Marks that surely resonates with any entrepreneur. It went something like this [paraphrased]:

If you can stay in the game long enough, your odds of success go up dramatically, as many of your competitors will eventually give up or find ways to defeat themselves.

You can’t afford to be your worst enemy.

Fear is an emotion.

It’s something that can appear in an instant without even knowing where it came from. But it can also disappear just as fast – we just need to know how to handle it.

Here are a few ideas to get you started…

11 Ways to Turn Fear into Fuel – How to Never Fail Again

1. Take everything as a lesson. No matter what happens, it always better prepares you for what’s next. With this mindset, ultimate failure is impossible.
2. Find people who have successfully done it before. Find your models and mentors. You’re likely not alone in your quest. Befriend them. Understand what they went through and how to approach the fears that are going to come up. No fear is worse than that of the unknown. Find out what’s coming.
3. Find people who have failed. These guys are much harder to find but even more important to understand. Like Charlie Munger says, “I want to know where I’m going to die so I don’t go there.”
4. Set real expectations. Everything, and I mean everything, takes longer than expected. Take that to heart so it doesn’t hit you too hard when the next delay comes up.
5. Become an absolute expert. Study up. Learn everything you can about your space. Under-preparation is a leading cause of failure. It’s also completely in your control.
6. Realize what you have to lose if you don’t go after what you care about. What will it mean for your health, your family, your excitement or the impact you won’t have on the world? Fear of missing out can be the biggest motivator of all.
7. Understand your worst case scenario. It’s never as bad as you think. Often it’s a lot closer to your current scenario than most people realize. Let your worst case empower you.
8. Collaborate. Don’t work on things all alone. Doubt is too nearby to fend off by yourself. Bring on a partner or teammate. It’s so much easier to build with someone else.
9. Create a support team. A group outside your immediate project. I have a mastermind group for Live Your Legend and another for my investment business, Cumbre Capital. These people have similar businesses & similar goals, they support me, they give me ideas, they keep me accountable, they make lows not quite as deep and highs even higher.
10. Learn to see opportunity. Many of us are hardwired to see what makes a situation brutal. Train yourself to see the positive. With everything that happens to you (good or bad), make a habit of listing all the opportunities it creates. They are always there, I promise. If you end up in your worst case scenario above, what good will come of that?
11.  Don’t Quit. Two words. That’s it.

Uncertainty Creates Dreams

It would take more than both hands and both feet to count the number of times I felt like slamming the computer and moving on. Either because things were taking longer than expected, others were going faster, or I just plain screwed things up. Since I decided early on that quitting wasn’t an option, I kept going. And I keep going.

Uncertainty has become a sign that what I’m doing actually matters. 

Uncertainty can lead to fear, anxiety, self-sabotage – even paralysis. Uncertainty can kill dreams. Sadly, it often does.

But, Uncertainty is also the single most consistent factor in those who experience those same dreams.

The dream-livers should not be the rare few.

You are in control of more than you think.

All you have to do is keep going.

Other articles you might enjoy:

1. How to Move Pass Fear
2. 5 KEYS TO DEVELOP THE ACTION HABIT
3. How to Stop Failing and Live Your Dream
4. 4 Things That Can Keep You From Goal-Setting Success
5. 4 Things That Can Keep You From Goal-Setting Success

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