When Fear Holds You Back

Do it anyways

I should. I need to. I’m gonna …. What happens and what are the consequences of letting my fears hold me back? Most of my days are productive. I push forward and do the things I need to do to build a company. Just over a year ago I set my fears aside long enough to make the leap, leaving my salaried chef position to do my own thing. I’ve been an employee my entire career……

choosing to stay in my comfortable place. It's been enough. Enough to get by, pay the bills, raise my kids. Enough to make me feel like I had purpose and stability in my life… until it wasn’t enough. Today… I sat. Choosing to work with my mind. It was hard. I didn’t want to meditate because that means I’ll have to work on letting go. The attachment I have to the wildness of my mind is real, so to let that go is scary. Today, as I sat, I began to think of all the things I’m afraid of. Will I let people down? I’m not good enough. Will people think my writing is amateur and without value? If I put down the distractions will I like what I see in myself? What if I’m told no? Over and over again. Something I’m learning as I’ve embarked on this entrepreneurial journey is that the fears will always be there. Most of the time I don’t acknowledge them and slide right into my comfortable behaviors. There’s work that needs to be done. I should catch up on social media, I don’t want to miss something. I’m looking for more opportunities. But am I really? Or am I just avoiding something I’m afraid of? The consequences of falling into those avoidance behaviors are pretty easy to identify. My health is not as good as I’d like it to be. My schedule isn’t currently full and I don’t really have enough work. I haven’t spoken to friends that mean a lot to me in far too long. My boys needed some guidance that I did not give. My relationships have suffered because I was afraid to have the hard conversation, and most of the time I don’t even realize it.

I know that the clearest path to living a fulfilled life with more happiness, joy, kindness, health and abundance is to take the next step. Recognize the fear and make a choice to take action anyways. You’d think by the way I’m talking that my life is a total disaster. It’s not. I am generally pretty happy. I have healthy relationships and am able to provide for myself and my boys. I know I’ll never be able to do this perfectly. I imagine being perfect would be quite boring anyways. There will be times of struggle and sadness in my life and I will always have some sort of fear standing in my way, but that’s okay.

I’ve made a ton of progress as a business owner, gotten through tough financial times. Struggled with addiction, been through two divorces and have stayed committed to moving forward. Waking up each day and instead of succumbing to my fears, taken action. But I can always to better. It’s helpful for me to take this periodic inventory of myself. Acknowledge the fears and do it anyways. I didn’t want to sit down and write today but I did it anyways. What are you afraid of today? Do it anyways!!