Fear is a natural part of life, but it can really keep us from stepping into an amazing opportunity or a new challenge. It can hold us back from an experience that we could learn from and really love. Business often requires us to face fears almost daily. If we avoided fear, our business would quickly become stagnant and lose vision.  So today we asked some of our team this question :: How do you prevent fear from defining who you are and what you do? Read on to hear some different stories and ways of looking at fear from our team!

CHAR :: I talk. Even if I don’t want to. Even if I want to hide. I force myself to verbalize my feelings to somebody that cares. The fear immediately lessens when I get the fear out of my head and into the open. Suddenly I see it for what it is. Dialoguing about it helps me form a solution and it puts the power back in my hands. I go from feeling powerless by this large raging monster to feeling confident (even if it is wavering) I have the resources needed to proactively respond to the situation.

ANNA :: I’ve come to realize that the journey toward progress almost always takes us straight through the thick of fear. If I run from the fear, I’m also running from my dreams. So I try my best to keep my eyes on the end game and not allow my fears to control me. I don’t have the power to make them disappear, but I do have the strength to not allow them to determine my course.

CRYSTAL :: I know I’ll never be content and fulfilled if I let fear of other people’s thoughts determine my decisions. I often have to step back from my situation to reevaluate and realign and ask “Why am I doing this?” Once I’m able to recognize what my heart and my gut are telling me, I follow it in confidence and don’t look back or second guess. And like Henry David Thoreau once said, you’ve just got to “Go confidently in the direction of your dreams.”

HAILEY :: I think for me, not allowing fear to define what I do or who I am has been as simple as identifying the areas of my life that are motivated by fear. It may seem simple, but just being self aware and recognizing fear in my life has empowered me to make decisions that are not motivated by fear. On a super practical level, I sometimes take a step back and look at different areas of my life and ask myself “Why am I behaving this way?” or “Why would I or would I not make the choice to (fill in the blank).” If I come to find out that fear is the answer to those questions, then I can ask myself – if fear was not a part of this process, how would I respond.

CLAIRE :: Fear takes a conscious effort to combat. First, I pray and ask God for help. Then, I ask close and trusted family and friends for their perspective on what I’m anxious about. This helps me sift through what’s truth and what’s not. So honestly assessing why I am afraid and if those fears are built on truth or on falsehood.

EMILY :: I think we all encounter fear on a daily basis, whether we subconsciously choose to follow it or intentionally push through it. Developing a new relationship with fear is where I have found freedom from the cage it forms around us if we deny it and allow it to control our decisions. Acknowledging that fear is real and it will exist alongside hard circumstances helps me make peace with that feeling of wanting to run away and never speak to a living being again. When you can expect fear to show up as you are venturing into new challenges, it doesn’t seem as paralyzing. Rather than trying to get rid of fear, I find it more efficient to have a clear vision of my dreams and follow the path to get there, despite fear. The simplest phrase I tell myself when I feel overwhelmed and doubtful is ‘you can do hard things’. Remembering how you were able to accomplish seemingly impossible tasks in the past can be really motivating when you find yourself in that place of discouragement. Fear of other’s opinions is a whole other topic… for that my advice would be, no one else can do what you were created to do, being insecure is depriving the world of your unique gifts and abilities.

BETHANY :: For me, fear is so linked to wondering what others think of me and the work that I do. I second guess myself a lot, but I have found that when I simply remind myself of who I am and the gifts that I know I have ( not in a prideful way ), I am able to believe that I can accomplish the new task in front of me. I also bring my fear to my loved ones, expressing my worry of failing. They are swift to encourage me and urge me to step forward into the challenge before me. Even after stepping into new challenges often in my life, it still scares me sometimes. But I remember that it is not about ‘succeeding’ or ‘failing’ at something. Life is full of crazy mistakes we’ve made and also wise choices that we stepped into. And we learned something in both. Stepping into something new can be scary, but succeed or fail, it can be beautiful, full of adventure and moments you will cherish forever.

We hope you found these different perspectives helpful! Whether you are a business owner, mother, creative entrepreneur, explorer or anyone else, remember that pushing through fear and tackling the challenge before you can be an incredible experience, regardless of the rough turns that may happen. So embrace the new, cherish the challenge and don’t let fear determine your course!