Fear as a Virtue

Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear - not absence of fear. Mark Twain

Like most emotions fear runs on a continuum from mild discomfort to terror. It serves as a warning in all of its forms. Some fears are irrational, some can be terrifying and some are indications of opportunity. In life threatening situations fear drives our response mechanisms and triggers adrenalin levels that enhance our survival skills. But what role does fear play in our business life?

The answer depends on how willing you are to listen to fear indicators, respond to them and most importantly to overcome them. In business fear most often arises when we are faced with opportunity. We might experience butterflies, anxiety or more than normal doubt. Many of us make the mistake of focusing on the fear rather than the opportunity. Focus on the fear echoes all of the reasons to avoid change.

The opportunity might be the pursuit of a client that is more of a challenge than you are used to; it might be an option to partner with someone new, to launch a new aspect of your business, or move to a new location. Any opportunity is a challenge to the status quo and that challenge is manifested in the mild discomfort of low range fear.

Those butterflies are telling you something, but are you willing to listen? To listen is to analyze your confidence in your ability to grow your business. To listen to the fear or your instincts is review your goals and confront the courage necessary to fulfill them. How many times have you heard someone say, “I could have ……” That opener is to frequently the encore to regret. As in your personal life view every opportunity in the context of how sorry will I be if I don’t do it?

Fear’s role at this level is to maintain the status quo not to provide the adrenalin necessary to move forward. The status quo is comfortable but it does not provide the challenges needed to grow, develop and achieve the next level of success. Fear complacency not opportunity.