9 Ways to Overcome Your Fear and Unleash Your True Potential from 9 Successful Entrepreneurs

Every person has fears. What matters is how you face your fears. Every entrepreneur achieves this in a different way. You, too, can draw your own path by being inspired by world-renowned entrepreneurs.

1) Don’t ignore your fear. Make him jealous of you.

(Ed Mylett, Author, Arete Syndicate Co-Founder)

Fear is nature’s way of warning us of danger, a wonderful thing. While a lion is chasing you, it keeps your awareness and performance at the highest level. My biggest fear is not not doing my best. I am afraid of missing opportunities in life. I have two scenarios in my imagination. I meet the person I can be after I die. The first is in heaven and my twin and the other is in hell and we are like two strangers.

I created this fear on purpose because I believe we can use fear as a motivator. When I make a decision, I ask if it will bring me closer to the person I want to be. Everything I do, from phone calls to going to the gym, stems from that fear. I don’t want to overcome my fears because if I do, I will lose that motivation.

2) Ask yourself what I would do if I wasn’t afraid.

(Jean Case, Author, CEO of Case Foundation, Chairman of the National Geographic Society, Owner of Early Mountain Vineyards)

In the early years of my career, I left a guaranteed job at General Electric and started working at a startup. Others thought I was crazy for risking everything, and I doubted myself. Still, I did what I had in mind and joined AOL. We have contributed greatly to the Internet revolution and changed many lives. An experience that I wouldn’t change for anything in this world.

Fearlessness means overcoming fear rather than disappearing it.

3) “Hack” your fear

(Dave Asprey, Entrepreneur, Architect of Biohack Concept, founder and CEO of Bulletproof)

Fear kills your logic. This emotion works with the survival mechanism and is triggered by fear. For our ancestors, fear meant being eaten or killed by a tiger. Humans have evolved and we have inherited this fear of failure. Fear of failure causes failure and creates a cycle.

Instead of surrendering to fear, we should hack it. Fear is the basis of all negative emotions. Positive emotions come from trust. When you realize this, you can transform your emotions. If you can teach your body not to fear failure, you will release the energy you need to succeed.

4) Choose to live with awareness.

(Jessica Mead, EpekData and BrandLync Co-Founder)

My biggest fear is to look back 10 years and realize that nothing has changed in my life except my age. I see it as a tool that motivates us to do the best version of everyone in my family. When one of us wants to give up, I remind our purpose again.

I encourage my family to reach their potential by setting an example. I try to get rid of my prejudices by listening with an open mind. I just allow myself to be. We can all make this choice, it just takes courage. I choose to live in the moment.

5) Your worst fear is not as bad as you think.

(Jeremy Harbor, founder and CEO of Unity Group and Harbor Club)

I started my first job at the age of 14. At 18 my business was not going well. I was overwhelmed, sleep deprived, and making bad decisions. My biggest fear was failure. That fear became a reality when I closed my business, but it didn’t kill me. On the contrary, I had the most comfortable sleep of my life that night.

6) Do not set out on your own.

(Mark Moses, CEO Coaching International founder)

15 years ago, my son, who was 3 years old, was diagnosed with a brain tumor. This was without a doubt the most terrifying truth I had to face in my life. I thought locking myself in the house would save me. When I let my guard down, I found how to control my fear. They saved my son’s life with two emergency surgeries and he is now 18 years old.

Sometimes our protection mechanism makes us do things we shouldn’t. We are surprised when we are faced with a fear that seems difficult to deal with. We try to avoid all distractions to find the solution within. In most cases, we cannot find the answer within ourselves. We need to accept that facing fear is something we cannot achieve alone and be with the people we need.

7) Look at the opportunities behind the fear.

(Keri Shull, Founder of Keri Shull Team)

My father left my mother before I was born. More than anything, I wanted to choose my destiny. On the other hand, I was very afraid of living without freedom. This was a challenge for me, both personally and professionally.

I realized that my fear was preventing me from making decisions that would make my dreams come true. Now when I feel fear, I ask myself what would happen if I faced this fear. The most important thing is to silence your inner voice and listen to the possibilities behind the fear. Without this skill, nothing in my life would be possible. So what is stopping you?

8) Face your fear.

(Tom Shieh, CEO of Crimcheck)

As a young entrepreneur, my biggest fear was failing in business. After achieving success, it was losing it. My fear came true when I lost millions because of one person. When I got over the pain in time, I understood my lesson. Even the thing you feared most wasn’t as bad as you thought. You understood this better when you faced your greatest fear.

Even on the verge of a financial collapse, it wasn’t killing me. I understood that I should never be afraid of financial difficulties because I did not hesitate to work hard that day. We can always produce by thinking optimistically. In fact, we develop faster because we are more experienced, knowledgeable and strong. Those born from the ashes of their fear will easily find their new passion, purpose and confidence.

9) Ask questions.

(Ashley Alderson, founder and CEO of The Boutique Hub)

I learned that in order to detect fear, I had to ask questions. What is keeping me from doing this? What if it does happen? How can good results come from this? How do I ignore this? What will I miss if I don’t go after you? When I discover what my greatest fear is by asking these questions, I realize that it is much smaller than I had imagined.