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Shine a light on your fear – #14 of 25 Traits of the Fearless Entrepreneur

/ Blog, Enterpreneur / By

Human beings are born with an instinct to run away from danger when we feel fear.  This is a built in protection mechanism.  This same instinct causes most people to live their lives inside their comfort zone, avoiding fear altogether. 
Successful
entrepreneurs understand and embrace fear and take it along for the ride –
knowing that it is all part of our journey to success.  
We are the ones that sit in the front of the roller coaster and hold our hands in the air as we plunge and turn upside down and then we run to the front of the line to do it all over again.  
This picture is my favorite ride at Busch Gardens. On days when I am particularly daunted by a business problem, I can get in my car and head out to take a ride — one of the benefits of living in Tampa, and having an annual pass.   
I was recently asked in an interview with Rebecca Happy what fears I have had to overcome and how did I overcome my fears in order to reach my goals as an entrepreneur?
Truth be known, my fear shows up in my dreams.  
I have a recurring dream of being on a ski
lift (I hate being cold and I have a fear of heights) and I look down seeing
businessmen in suits, effortlessly traversing the moguls and soaring off the
jumps – a metaphor for how easy success looks from the outside. 
When I am awake, I am not afraid.  I have to travel my own business journey and
when I see obstacles, I am conditioned and equipped to get over them or remove
them or go around them as the case may be. 
I am that business man in a suit, mastering the mountain.

I get over any fear that might try to cripple me by facing
it head on and being completely open and transparent about the obstacles that I
face and what goes on in my head.  
The secret is to shine a light on anything that you fear.  That is what cripples the fear.  It is when you keep things hidden that they work their dangerous, cancerous work on your soul and paralyze you from moving forward.
Shine the light.  Master the mountain.

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