Overcome Fear One Step at a Time

What scares you? 

When I started thinking about building my own real estate team, I was most scared about leading a group of agents.

I began overthinking everything. Why would someone want to join my team? Will anyone want me to lead them? What if I mess something up?

Eventually, I had to learn to embrace the fear. I was never going to be able to predict why someone would or wouldn’t join my team or if I would make a mistake. I needed to take the next step forward and leave room for people to join me—even if I remained terrified in the process.

Identify Your Fear

Every person on earth operates with primitive parts of their brain—our bodies are built to freeze, flee, or fight when we sense danger. The world’s changed, but our wiring hasn’t. We might not be facing down sabertooth tigers anymore, but we’re often coming up against something much scarier: vulnerability.

Being a great leader means you must identify your fear, understand it, and overcome it. Most people get overwhelmed by how big the future feels, so they don’t make any moves at all. But if you can identify what you’re afraid of, you can also take the first step toward your goal.

Make Plans to Move Forward

Once you’ve identified your fear, it’s time to think about what you could do to face it. This is the place to think small. What is the tiniest step you can take? Write it down. 

With that first one out of the way, think through the next four steps. Write them out one by one. 

Next, break them down further. Are there any actions necessary to complete the first step? What are they? 

What about the second?

Write through each step, and then return to step one. That’s where you take action.

Whether you’re building a new team, launching a project, or starting a solo endeavor, don’t let fear keep you from creating something great. You can do it one step at a time.