Fear is one of the instincts that engulfs us almost every time we are about to venture into the unknown.

It can help you take precautions, but can, at the same time, be your most significant barrier to success.

If fear can help you assess the bigger picture and enable you to prepare enough to withstand the storm ahead, then fear is good. However, studies, including one by Ally Financial (2017), have shown that fear inhibits creativity.

In the US, for example, 61 per cent of would-be entrepreneurs abandon their dream out of fear of anticipated failure or fierce competition.

Regardless of your profession, however, success will not come your way if you only play in the “safe mode.”

Playing it safe always is not entrepreneurial; playing it safe does not accelerate business and personal growth either. You will have to take some risks sometimes to attain success.

Do you want to succeed in this post-COVID-19 era? If yes, then learn to overcome your fears today by doing the following.

Equip yourself with adequate competencies and abilities

What is the source of your fear? Is it work-related limited skills? Past experiences of failure? Or fear of public ridicule in case of failure?

It could be any or all of the above. But you can still overcome them.

All successful people, in one way or another, know of what former American president Franklin Roosevelt said about anxiety, that: “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”

You will never make that potentially life-changing investment if you do not overcome fear. As an employee, you may never seek or take on more significant responsibilities if you are full of fear.

All investors will tell you that they first overcame fear before they could ‘throw’ their money into the future. And indeed, some have made good and bad investment decisions, but at least they overcame fear.

According to Performance Coach University 2020, fear, which originates typically from the unknown, could be the single obstacle you need to overcome to get to where you want to be.

Resolve to start small, anywhere

The humble story of current billionaire Bill Gates starting his Microsoft business in a small Albuquerque garage in 1985, has been told a countless time.

Supposing the billionaire coiled back from investing in a relatively new area, or was waiting to get a fancy workplace before he could start, Microsoft wouldn’t be a household name today.

Business growth is a gradual process that accrues from correct financial decisions. You are already aware that making a proper decision comes from learning extensively about a subject.

Just know that if small things were to be ignored, then a tiny acorn would not grow into that mighty oak. Overcome fear today and become that person of success you have always imagined to be.

Focus on the bigger picture

Giving birth, especially for first-time mothers, is always a frightening experience. A mother has so many fears to overcome: will she deliver normally, how will the baby look like?

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But because mothers look at the bigger picture of giving life, they inevitably overcome this fear.

Suppose you have been having an idea of starting a business. For this long, you have been playing safe, and never attempt to implement an innovative idea for fear of failing, let the bigger exciting future be your guiding principle to overcome your fear.

Look at the bigger picture, see if you’re heading in the right direction and whether your vision is in sight.

According to Josh (2016), a blogger with Forbes, thinking about the long term may not fix your current challenges, but it can help you think about the issues at hand more objectively and come up with the right solutions.  

Don’t let a past failure become your future bondage.

Yes, you probably have ventured into a business, and it collapsed before it could take off.

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Or maybe you have been applying for that dream job or promotion yet all has been in vain.

You are now filled with fear and discouragement. But ask yourself whether if you stopped trying, it will solve your misery or help you attain the desired future.

If the answer is no, then drop that fear fast.

If you have read up to here, congratulations! However, let me add that in business and elsewhere when things sometimes do not go as planned, your ability to be agile and decisive will help you pull through.

Excellence Assured blog, encouraged us even to learn to accept losses as a cost of doing business.

It suggests that this also helps us to manage our emotions while trading.

Therefore, go past your fears and run after your dreams. After all fear, we all know, is nothing but False Evidence Appearing Real.