Fear of Getting Started

Going from Professional to Contractor to Consultant can strike fear in our hearts.  We tend to stay in our circle - or comfort zone  because of the fear of failure, looking bad, or making mistakes.

We stay in our circle - paralyzed.  If we are not careful - the fear of failure itself - keeps us from trying and can actually cause the fear. Also known as self-fulfilling prophecy.

What is Fear?
Fear is the talk going on in our heads, that prevents you from hearing your intuition, or the positive side of your mind, that tells you that your ought to launch, try something, get on with it.  It is the most common "limiting" emotion we have.  This is the basis for the flight or fight syndrome.  It is rooted in our primordial being (whatever the heck that means). 

Look, I'm not a psychologist.  But I have studied this subject extensively.

Our mind is trying to protect us.  Our primary instinctive is survival - not success or happiness.  We tend to fear what we don't know, and it is this very thing, that keeps us stuck in not taking action.  Not taking action, keeps us in the dark, ignorant if you will, and thus this ignorance, generates more fear. It's a cycle.  Do you get it? Read this again, because it is of primary importance.

Any time we venture out into the unknown, fear appears. And everyone of us has fears.  The fear of death, the fear of flying, the fear of speaking publicly.  But if we can step outside of the chatter that goes on in our heads, we can see that the fear is often unfounded. 

Oh, sure, we should be aware of things that could go wrong. And prepare for these things not to happen or at least understand the "impact" of these things.  But many of the fears we have are little things - the fear of making a mistake, the fear of looking bad in the eyes of others (embarrassment or the fear of ridicule).

The Thing to Do
The simplest and easiest thing to do is to write out your fear. And then underneath it write out the answer to the question: "What's the worst thing that could happen?"  And then, write out a mitigation strategy (action items) of things to both make sure these things do not occur or if they do, what you are going to do to correct them.

Once you have listed out your fear and the mitigation strategies, create a step by step action plan to launch.  Write out the answer to:  "What's the goal?"  And then write out the answer to; "What are the steps I need to take?' And then prioritize the things according to timing (not easiest or most difficult). Ask yourself; "What's the first thing I need to do?"  And then do it.

The Best Approach Psychologically
The best self-image to have when trying something new is to have the self-image of a scientist.  You have to experiment, try new things, test things out and get feedback and then correct based upon the feedback. Look at yourself as a scientist, experimenting.

This can be difficult for technical people, who are used to getting something perfect before releasing it to the world.  It is an opposing or opposite view of doing something. But you must try and cultivate this approach - the approach of experimentation - and build it into your repertoire.

So, understand the thing you fear - is it monetary, physical, or psychological?  It is real or manufactured?  I would guess, that the fear of getting started on something is 95% psychological and therefore manufactured.

Good luck