Overcoming Fear Of Starting

A lot of people have amazing dreams, ideas, exciting goals, but they never take any step towards them. You will be surprised how many people have allowed fear to make them delay their actions, overthink their decisions, and remain at the same spot. They may feel like they are waiting for the "perfect time," while they are just wasting time because of fear. The truth is that opportunities are lost, not because people fail when they have taken a step, but simply because they fail to take a step in the first place. Here, we shall be take a look at some of the ways by which one can overcome the fear of starting.

The first way to overcome the fear of starting is to understand that perfection is not required. One of the biggest things that delay people from starting is the hope of perfection. That is; waiting for a perfect moment, or perfect opportunity, or perfect step. They keep waiting for everything to be perfectly planned before they take any step, and this will make them to wait for so long. What they fail to understand is that, more often than not, perfection is unrealistic. Progress is actually better than the hope of perfection. Many of the people you now see as successful in various fields of endeavours began with a lot of imperfections but improved over time. Instead of waiting for perfection, it will be better to start and then learn as you go.

The second way is to break the goals that you have set into little bits. Trust me, there is a kind of goal that you will set for yourself and it will begin to discourage you instead of motivating you. What you will do in that situation is to break it down into smaller bits. I remember a time I wanted to learn a particular computer skills. It seemed too big because I was looking at it from the end-point. It delayed me from starting for so long, until I decided to break it down into modules. I took the modules one per week. Within 4 months, I already learnt the skill. It was possible because I had to break it down into modules. Instead of worrying yourself about completing a task, it will be better to focus on taking the next step. Before you know it, you would have completed the task.

Another way by which you can overcome the fear of starting is to focus more on learning instead of on failing. If you want to take a step and you are already considering about what will happen if you fail, it will make you not to start in the first place. A lot of people see failing as something that they should avoid at all cost. But instead of worrying about what will happen if you fail, it will be better to focus on what you can learn from the step. The story of the man who invented the light bulb after trying so many times explained that after failing, he was asked about his failures. He simply replied that all those times, that he was learning. That means he saw the failure as learning process, and that made him to achieve his dream.

The fourth way by which you can overcome the fear of starting is to believe in your ability to grow. You will agree with me that confidence does not always come before actions, but it often comes after taking the first step. The truth is that every successful step that you take will give you the required confidence to take the next step. You have to believe that you have the ability to learn, adapt, and to improve along the way. As a matter of fact, you do not have to figure out every single thing before you take the first step, but believe that you will improve along the way. What matters is that you have started, and then your willingness to learn and become better through the process.

The last point that we shall be looking at, is to focus on "why." When the reason why you need to start is so strong, you will discover that it will be easy to overcome fear. Ask yourself if your goal is important. When you know how achieving a goal will impact on you, you will feel motivated to start. This will also help you to know what you will stand to lose if you do not start. Having a clear purpose will give you the determination to keep going even when the journey is full of uncertainties. When you remember the reason why you started, you will be willing to continue even when challenges come.

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