follow your fear - part 1

Most of us are well aware of the popular adage, “Follow your passion,” and contemplate on it in order to have a successful and fulfilling life both personally and professionally, but very few of us are geared towards acting upon its inverse: “Follow your fear.”

This is what Marie Forleo advocates in her book Everything is Figureoutable. She advises that instead of running away from our fear, we must do the exact opposite and follow it.

Of course, this doesn’t mean we must neglect the useful fears, the fears that keep us safe and alive. Nor does it refer to doing something reckless and stupid that puts our finances, our relationships, and the future of our families at a huge risk.

It essentially means that we have to follow the “good fear”, the fear that is purpose-driven, the type of fear that constantly propels us to go after an idea, an idea that keeps lingering in our head, an idea about something that we have always wanted to do.

We have to follow this good fear of doing something new and risky, where one part of ourselves tells us that we can’t do it and wants us to be safe and comfortable, but the wiser part of ourselves, the higher Self within, craves for it and really wants us to pursue it. And when we imagine doing it, we are overwhelmed by all the worries about things that may go against us and all the bad situations we may come across. But still, we know deep down within that it’s something that needs to be done.

As Steven Pressfield writes in his book The War of Art, “Fear is good. Like self-doubt, fear is an indicator. Fear tells us what we have to do. Remember our rule of thumb: The more scared we are of a work or a calling, the more sure we can be that we have to do it.” He further continues, “… the more fear we feel about a specific enterprise, the more certain we can be that that enterprise is important to us and to the growth of our soul.”