How To Stop Irrational Fears From Holding You Back

Whether you want to write a book, launch a course or coaching service or even just publish that blog post you keep telling yourself is a bit too controversial, often the fears that stop you from acting are irrational fears. Of course when you’re experiencing them, they don’t seem irrational, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t.

Below we will talk about the irrational fears that could be the thing stopping you from really going for whatever it is that you want and how to deal with them.

You’re Not Good Enough

I think we’re all guilty of this one at some point. We write something we know is good, and then we talk ourselves around to thinking it’s rubbish, or we convince ourselves that we’ll never sell enough books because marketing isn’t really our thing etc.

Another favourite is to start panicking that we’re not an expert in whatever it is that we’re talking about. Being an expert is no longer solely defined by having a degree in the subject. It is more often defined by being someone who has actually been there and done that.

You might not be a PhD level expert in something – but as long as you know your target market and you are ahead of them in the journey, then you are an expert. You’ve actually lived those steps and most likely know more about the practicalities of applying them than someone who has read about them in a book.

Always remember that you ARE good enough. You know your stuff and people DO want to learn what you’re teaching. Don’t let this fear hold you back. Try to remember that we all feel it – including those super successful people that you look up to.

Be proud of who you are and remember why you wanted to do this thing in the first place. Don’t lose sight of that goal and don’t let anything stop you.

Fear of Failure

Again, this is something we all feel at times, and honestly, it’s something we’ll all experience in one way or another. But the only real failure is the failure to try. If you launch something and it doesn’t take off in the way you hoped, that’s not a failure. The failure would be to just accept that and never try again. Sometimes all it takes is a little tweak, or better timing, or reassessing who your target consumer is.

To get around this fear, ask yourself what’s the worst thing that could happen. Usually the answer is along the lines of getting no sales or no views of a post etc. Once you’ve identified the worst thing can happen, make a plan for what you’ll do if that does happen. And remember that it’s unlikely to happen anyway.

And don’t forget that fear isn’t always a bad thing. If we always stay completely in our comfort zones, then we’d never achieve anything spectacular. Use the fear – let it motivate you to be the best that you can be.

When you break down the fears that are holding you back, most of them are just you putting yourself down one way or the other. Rationalise the fear and remind yourself that this is all you are feeling – self-doubt. Push through it and you will achieve great things. Because all of those mega successful people out there all started from nothing once and they more than likely felt exactly the same as you do now (in fact they probably still feel the same on some level).

What irrational fear is holding you back from going after what you really want? How do you plan to overcome it? Let me know in the comments 🙂

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