Recently, I was asked what we do at B.O.S.S. Consulting. My response was this: “We take the naturally occurring resource of fear and help people use it to build confidence.”
That may seem surprising. Fear? A resource? What do I mean by that?
Fear can act as an indicator. It’s a data point that, if used properly, can help us to become more aware. Once we understand our fear (or its first cousin – anxiety) we can build something with it. In fact, early in our collective history, fear was a valuable feeling to understand. Is that a lion in the grass? How do I plan for what will happen when the weather changes? How do I use the landscape to make sure that my family thrives? All of these questions were useful even though they were inspired by one kind of fear or another.
That same software is still running in our brains today. We can use fear to gain a better understanding of ourselves and use that understanding to more effectively and efficiently plan for the future. Fear is going to be there from time to time, knowing how to use it is a great tool to have in your business (and life) toolbox.
I’m not suggesting that you immediately rush into the scariest thing you can imagine. Take time to work on some of your smaller fears that may be holding you back. As you do this hard work, you’ll start to build confidence. You’ll put yourself out there. Things may not always go right, but you’ll learn from it, grow from it, and keep moving forward.
What can you learn from your fear? How can you use it to grow?