Number one tip to stop letting fear hold you back

Procrastination and fear go hand in hand. You know you’ve got a great idea, you know the result you want to get, yet something is holding you back.

Often that something holding you back is fear.

Fear of what other people might think. Fear of failing. Fear of success. Fear of finding out you can’t actually do it. Fear of disappointment. So many fears.

So why so fearful?

You’re thinking too far ahead

It is great to think of the future and create ideas and plans and visualise success. But this can also be our downfall, if not done in the right way.

Your brain is just trying to protect you from this big uncertain future. 

So give your brain what it wants – something easy, something achievable immediately, something safe.

Every great success comes after the tiniest steps forward.

Focus on the tiny step forward

If you are procrastinating and fear is holding you back, then start by focusing on the tiny step forward. The absolute easiest thing you can think of to do.

Take deep breaths, calm your nervous system down. Put the BIG IDEA down for a minute and step away from it.

And now, instead, allow yourself to think about the easiest, most simple, non-scary thing you could do next that would move you forward.

And then do it.

And repeat.

How does that work?

Looking to change careers but the whole thing is too overwhelming and you don’t know where to start? Take a deep breath, and then another one. Calm your body and brain down.

Now start to get curious about the first small step you would like to take, this is likely to be different for everyone but could include:

• brainstorming ideas
• Looking on Indeed at types of skills needed for careers you’d like
• Opening your CV and reading over it
• Looking at your LinkedIn profile

And that’s it. Stop there. Allow yourself to do one small thing.

And then repeat.

Your brain might start screaming “But that’s not enough! That’s never going to get me what I want!”

But trust me, doing one small thing regularly is going to get you a lot closer than fear, panic, procrastination and doing absolutely nothing.

Big changes don’t happen by themselves, they happen from an accumulation of really small, easy, non scary steps in the right direction.

So keep breathing and keep taking those small steps