How to overcome fear as you chase your goals in life

Published by Kevin Kiggundu on

In our day-to-day life, we encounter fear when we don’t know how to approach something we want. Our brains recognize how happy we’d be if we got it, but also realize how terrible it would feel if we tried and failed. So to keep moving towards our dreams, we have to learn how to overcome fear.

How to deal with fear
Photo by Benjamin Wedemeyer on Unsplash

Have you ever been so excited you couldn’t sleep?

I’ve been sleeping for only 2 hours each night since I secured shop space for my business.

My brain literally refuses to shut down, busy planning everything. From trying to find solutions to the challenges of raising funds on short notice; to trying to find a way to correct a mistake I made during rent negotiations; and finally picturing exactly how the place is going to be when everything is sorted.

I know it is going to be challenging. I’ve already screwed up in rent negotiation, and I’m struggling to secure credit for a few purchases. I’m also aware that more unexpected issues will show up and test me. But I’m still super excited, and highly confident this will work.

Why? Because I’m doing what I love. Because I’m doing what I’ve always wanted to do since I was a child.

I could do this for a full day, every day of the week, and still not get tired of it. The fact that so many others love it as much as I do is what makes it a great business idea.

It will also work because I’ve done my research. I spent decades being the client, along with so many others who wanted the same thing daily. We would walk whatever distance to get to it, at times even queuing up for it.

I am also aware that there are no guarantees in life. I could fail, just as easily as succeed.

The failing part is scary. It had me terrified for a few minutes after actually getting the opportunity.

I’m pretty much staking everything I own on this. So if I fail then I’ve lost everything and have to start from absolute zero all over again. 

The fear factor

Fear is just a lack of knowledge – an emotional response to protect you from the unknown and any potential risks in those dark areas.

In our day-to-day life, we encounter fear when we don’t know how to approach something we want. Our brains recognize how happy we’d be if we got it, but also realize how terrible it would feel if we tried and failed. So we freeze.

Some of us then take the risk and move forward regardless, while others stay frozen in fear.

I don’t want to be afraid. I don’t want to miss out on my dreams and simply look back in regret years later.

That’s why I agreed to pay rent that was much higher than the market price for that location. And why I was willing to start immediately despite a lack of guaranteed capital, as my funds are currently tied up somewhere in the short term.

Risky? Definitely. I’m learning just how hard it is to get credit.

Worth it? Absolutely.

The dream

How to deal with fear

I’ve spent years working for other people, building their businesses and earning them revenue. Even as my own boss in my brand architecture work since last year, I’m working on other people’s businesses.

Now here’s my chance to apply everything I’ve learned to my own child and watch it grow….

So yes I can’t sleep. And I can’t wait for it to take off.

I can’t wait for the challenges either, for I know I will overcome them. (Did i just say that…? Yes I did!)

Every obstacle you face is a test that forces you to get better so as to overcome it. You acquire wisdom for future decisions, connections that helped you solve the issue, and resilience – that precious self-belief that you can survive whatever comes your way.

I want to be better. I want to grow. And this is the way for me.

Someone might be asking:

How do you overcome the fear?

  1. Do thorough research. Learn as much as you can about what you want to do. Study it in-depth, look at the operations of those already in the business and have a full picture of what to expect. This is so much easier if you actually love what you want to do. It won’t even feel like research.

2. Expose yourself bit by bit and get feedback. Let a few people in the industry know what you want to do. You could approach an existing business owner and make inquiries. Or you could approach a client and ask what they think of your ideas or work.

Either way, you get feedback, which allows you to refine and grow your ideas.

3. Be prepared. Opportunities don’t come with a weather forecast. If anything, they’re a bit like lightning: a sudden flash, and then it’s gone. Blink and you miss it.

Sure, there may be another flash, but you don’t know exactly when. So you stand ready and take it when it comes.

4. Believe in yourself, believe in the goodness and mercy of our Creator. For the majority of adults, your current life is a reflection of your past choices. Your results right now, are exactly what you chose them to be.

Of course, there are things out of our control, and sometimes things take a long time to start going the way they should. However, ultimately hard work and dedication pay. Every successful person will tell you that. So choose your path and fight as long and hard as it takes to get to where you want to go.

5. Most importantly, do what you love. This is the biggest point of all. All the above is made so much easier when you have passion for what you’re doing. It’s easy to do the research, get the feedback, go through the hard times, and deal with the fear when what you’re doing resonates with who you are at the core of your being. It’s also easy to seek improvements and want more, to dream bigger.

“Do what you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life “.

. . . . . . . .

Author’s note:

On top of writing, we’re the best Website Designers in Uganda, providing world-class websites for your business or organization – as well as  Hosting services and Search Engine Optimization.

We also build brands through Digital Advertising. We run affordable, high-performance advertising campaigns to help businesses grow.

Check out our Home and Services pages for examples of the work we’ve done, and to see how we may be of service to you.

Thanks for reading.

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1 Comment

How overconfidence cost me a massive opportunity. · June 26, 2021 at 5:06 pm

[…] seemed to be going right. My new business was growing really well, and here I was with a dream way to earn extra […]

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