Overcoming the Fear of Getting Started

Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy. -- Dale Carnegie

There are a few people who don't work out because of their false beliefs about working out. Some teenagers don't start because they are scared that their growth will be stunted. Some adults don't start because they are scared that it will give them massive injuries. They bring up excuses about people who got injured for life by lifting weights. These initial fears arise because of the feelings of uncertainty in life. The person who is about to start going to the gym and has never been there before is very uncertain about what is going to happen and therefore creates momentary excuses so that they don't have to start. It's all a way of putting it off. A very famous word we are now familiar with to describe this condition is procrastination.

In the same way, people in life who want to become successful, are also misinformed and use these very excuses. They say "Why should I start a new business? Nine of out ten new startups fail all the time, how can I expect to be successful?" These people come up with multiple excuses instead of just getting started. Some people want to write books but never get started because the statistics show a slim chance for new authors making it to the bestseller list.

We have to realize that failures are also exceptions to the rule as much as success is! The people who got seriously injured while exercising in the gym were exercising inappropriately and over-strained themselves. How can you use them as an example of what will happen to you? How can you take someone else's failure in business and apply the conclusion that you will fail because they failed? Does it make any sense? Doesn't it make more sense to learn from other people's failures and then using that knowledge to create the business to make sure it will work out well rather than imagining how you are going to ruin?

You should always remember that the fears that the person holds before going to the gym are as false as the person who fears to start on any venture. The reason that it's false is because it is based on speculation. You haven't done it yet so how would you know? Why would you predict failure for yourself in the gym or in achieving success? Nothing is holding you back but your prejudices on getting started. Eliminate those fears by taking action. Just sitting there and doing nothing about it is not going to get you anywhere faster.

The only advice for you to get you to start something is to JUST GET STARTED. The person who sees that promise about what getting fit and lean will bring them, as well as the person who envisions success for him/herself should get started and then continue with their best efforts. You might fail if you start, but at least you will get somewhere, the chance to succeed is still there. You can always "correct your course" because now you know where you are going and you can get some feedback as to how you are doing.

Public speaking is a common source of stress for everyone. Many of us would like to avoid this problem entirely, but this is hard to do. Whether we work alone or with large numbers of people, eventually we will need to speak in public to get certain tasks accomplished. And if we want to be leaders or achieve anything meaningful in our lives, we will often need to speak to groups, large and small, to be successful.

These are the hidden causes of public speaking stress:

Thinking that public speaking is inherently stressful (it's not).

Thinking you need to be brilliant or perfect to succeed (you don't).

Trying to impart too much information or cover too many points in a short presentation.

Having the wrong purpose in mind (to get rather than to contribute).

Trying to please everyone (this is unrealistic).

Trying to emulate other speakers (very difficult) rather than simply being yourself (very easy).

Failing to be personally revealing and humble.

Being fearful of potential negative outcomes (they almost never occur and even when they do, you can use them to your advantage).

Trying to control the wrong things (e.g., the behavior of your audience).

Spending too much time overpreparing (instead of developing confidence and trust in your natural ability to succeed).

Thinking your audience will be as critical of your performance as you might be.

But what about getting started on your writing? Perhaps you wish to be a keen writer, yet you're having problems deciding on the greatest way to start out? There can be a number of measures to becoming a successful author and producing an effective piece of writing. The very first step is to pick the topic that you will be composing about. What is it that you will write about? Precisely why have you selected that issue and precisely what may be the focus?

One good notion is to just compose a list of critical subject areas in your mind - elements you are good at, issues in the news, things people are talking about. The more popular the topic is, the more likely someone will want to read about it or distribute it. Before you start writing, you need to decide three things. What are you writing about? Who do you imagine will be reading it? What do you want to tell them? You can write by starting off with a plan. The key to doing it successfully is to break the writing down into short, simple steps.

Perform your appropriate investigation - you ought to make sure that you comprehend your details before you write. Discussing good and accurate information is important if you are to become viewed as an authority in the specific discipline. Your status depends on it. Investigation may seem to be wearying but it allows you to become precise in your content material and will often reveal aspects of the topic you may not have pondered.

Try to summarize in your mind (or written down) specifically what it is you are writing about and find out the composition of your written work. You will require a brief introduction, a main body of subject matter and a conclusion.

However you are guaranteed to not get anywhere if you don't start. Your fear that stops you from starting has no truth in reality. Realize this and get going on making your dreams real. It's your duty to your highest self to do this. It is a sin to not live up to your highest potential. Fear is just a test of how badly you want it. Are you willing to pay the price of overcoming the fear? Are you going to take on the challenge of greatness that is facing everyone in this word but which only a few conquer? I dare you to make the most of yourself. Take me up on my offer and see your life dramatically change for the best since that is all you have inside yourself-- the best!