Nelson Mandela and Your Next Project

In the midst of building this site – creating content, figuring out shopping carts, beating my head against the wall, totally enjoying myself – I’ve encountered bouts of fear. Will anyone pay attention? Will it be good enough? Do I have the right mix of content? Will I make any money? Am I crazy?

I know you know what I’m talking about. I know that you’ve encountered these same issues in your business. Especially if you’re just starting out or you are taking on a new project. For me, it comes and goes. Some moments during the day, I’m completely up and excited. Other moments, I’m down and totally frustrated. The triggers are never the same.

So what do you do? What do I do? Let me share with you a quote I recently found –

“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.” – Nelson Mandela

This is what I’ve learned to do – move on. Don’t give into the fear. Be Brave. Accept and conquer.

Here are three simple things I’ve done to help conquer the fears I encounter in this project:

1. Make lists. Sometimes I feel like I should be doing something, but not really sure what. I recently began using Evernote which works across all my platforms (desktop, laptop, iPad, phone). When I’m stuck, I check out my lists – add, delete, amend items. It gives me the sense of progress, movement.
2. Stop analyzing and start doing. I’m the type of person that likes to put off making decisions by researching. But that can represent the classic “paralysis by analysis.” Sometimes you just have to stop thinking and start doing. Keep moving forward.
3. Include others. The more public your project is the more real it is. The more real the project is, the less scary it is – the unknown is lessened. That’s part of the reason I’m writing the post (it was on my list, I was getting stuck, so I’m including you in the process).

So go ahead you can do it. Triumph over your fear. Finish and launch that project that you’ve been working on!

What steps do you take? How do you conquer your fears so you can keep moving?