We know what we want to do, what we could do, and what we ought to do.
It’s a new business concept. It’s the act of dropping out of college. It’s expressing our feelings to someone. It’s trying something completely new.
However, something gets in the way. Our inner monologue. Inside our heads, we hear the voices of others. People tell us that our idea is crazy, that the chances are slim, and that people like us do things like this rather than that.
Oh, how much this is going to cost us. “Apprehension, uncertainty, waiting, expectation, fear of surprise, do a patient more harm than any exertion,” wrote Florence Nightingale, a woman who resisted her calling for the first thirty years of her life. Yet, these banal but powerful fears—they keep so many of us from fulfilling our potential. They give us a plethora of reasons why. Or maybe not.
However, it must be stated that greatness is impossible without taking a risk, leaping into uncertainty, and overcoming fear. Name one good thing that did not necessitate a few brave seconds. If we want to be great, if we want to reach our full potential, we must learn to conquer fear, or at the very least rise above it in critical moments. So, adapted from my recently released book Courage is Calling: Fortune Favors The Brave, here are 15 ways to do just that…and hopefully get a little closer to realizing your full potential.
Logic Can Help You Overcome Fear
In sobriety circles, the acronym F.E.A.R. stands for “False Evidence Appearing Real.” That is the definition of fear. False impressions that appear to be true. We must rationally dissect fear. Get to the bottom of it. Please explain. Tell yourself, “It’s only money.” It’s simply a bad article. It’s just a meeting where people yell at each other. Is that something you should be concerned about? “There are more things likely to frighten us than to crush us,” Seneca wrote, “and we suffer more often in imagination than in reality.” Disassemble it. Take a close look at the facts. Investigate. Only then will we be able to see clearly.
Ignore Other People’s Opinions
Almost everything new, impressive, and correct was done in the face of the status quo’s loud objections. Most of what is now beloved was scorned at the time of its conception or adoption by people who now pretend it never happened. When I interviewed rapper Logic for the Daily Stoic podcast, he mentioned how every time he releases a new album, the haters come out in droves. They wanted the sound and style of his mixtapes when he released his first album. They wanted the sound and style of his first album when he released his second. They wanted the sound and style of his second album when he released his third. And so forth. This is how things work. This is how it’s always been. Cicero wrote about haters, gossipers, and sideline commentators over two thousand years ago. “Let others worry about what they will say about you,” he advised. “In any case, they’ll say it.” Don’t put the opinions of faceless, unaccountable strangers ahead of your own careful consideration.
