This is part of a series of posts about how to make your ideas actually happen.

Introduction
Figure out the Steps
Bring Order to Chaos
Ask for Help
Conquer Your Fear
Get It Done

Conquer Your Fear

[Cue scary music.]

You’re scared. You should be. Changing the world is scary. And it’s wildly fun.

You’ve got to do it anyway, fear or not. The world needs you!

Now that I’ve given you a little pep talk, let’s talk about how to deal with fear.

Not all fear is created equal

I categorize fear into two varieties: dirty and clean.

Dirty fear comes from stories like these:
What if I mess up?
I might fall flat on my face!
I’m going to make a fool of myself.
I’m not ______ enough to do this.

You get the idea.

For fears like these, I suggest using The Work or a similar coaching tool. It’s not easy to move forward with a lot of dirty fear, and it is your responsibility to deal with it. If you have dirty fear and it’s keeping you stuck, hire a coach. Seriously. You’ll be glad you did.

Clean fear, on the other hand, doesn’t have much of a story. If you listen closely, it may say something like, “Oh, crap. Hmmm…. I might be on to something…. Oh, shit!” That’s a sure sign you’ve found something good. Bev Barnes describes this feeling as “scary but excited.”

Think back on your life when something was scary and exciting and you did it anyway. Try to recall that feeling and remember how it was to dive in and do it. Hopefully this will remind you the worthwhileness of your effort!

Feel the fear and do it anyway

A few weeks ago I was telling a friend how excited I was for her because she was doing so many new things. I assumed she wasn’t scared. She politely corrected me. “Oh, I’m scared. I just do it anyway.”

I don’t suggest diving into your fear recklessly. Often our fear is present for a reason. That’s why the step above is important: sort out the dirty fear from the clean. Deal with the dirty fear. Dive into the clean fear.

Observe yourself and your fear

I am working on the finishing touches for a program I’m calling Get Real: How to Make Your Ideas Actually Happen. These blog posts are the early offspring of its content. When I first had the idea to run this program, I would sit down to work on the outline and immediately get distracted. All of a sudden I really needed to make homemade bread. I laughed because it was my fear trying to distract me from doing this new thing. Like Bev described, it was scary and exciting. And like Anna taught me, I did it anyway.

When you notice fear, be gentle with yourself. I let myself make bread, very aware of what I was doing. I didn’t try to fight it. If you fight your fear, it will fight back even harder. If you notice it, let it have it’s say (which for me was taking a break to make bread), then return to working on your idea, you’ll find the fear lessens.

Fear is not bad

If you’re looking to change the world, you’re going to be taking some risks. This means that fear is likely going to be present. There’s nothing wrong with that. It’s not possible to take big leaps in your life and not feel fear. Big leaps and fear go hand in hand. The mind shift you need to make is from one where fear is bad to another where fear is part of the process. If you expect fear, allow it, and do your thing anyway, you really can change the world.

If you’ve stuck with me this far, you’ve come a long way toward making your idea actually happen. You’ve gotten clear on your idea, figured out the steps, brought order to chaos of tasks, learned to ask for help, and now conquered your fear. Woo-hooo!!!

Next up: Get it done. I love this step!!