How to actually start that thing you've been too afraid to start

Storytime - so, I've wanted to start a YouTube channel for ages.

I knew of the numerous benefits of building a personal brand but was afraid of taking the first step. My - admittedly irrational - fears included tainting my friends' perception of me, wasting effort only to get no traction, being cancelled, etc. Again, irrational fears, and fears that were most likely never going to come to fruition, but in my mind they were visceral fears nonetheless.

Today that all changed.

I used the Tim Ferris fear setting exercise to help me take the first step, and I'm sharing it with you guys in case it helps you start that thing you know you should start (whatever that thing is), but are too afraid to take the first step.

Ask yourself these 5 questions:

1. What is the worst thing that can happen if I do the thing that I fear doing?

2. What can I do to prevent each of the worst things from happening?

3. If the worst-case scenario happened, what can I do to repair it?

4. What are the benefits of an attempt or partial success?

5. If I don't do the thing that scares me, what will my life look like in 6 months, 3 years and 10 years?

Getting a piece of paper and scribbling down my answers to these questions helped me overcome the initial inertia of starting the thing I know I should be doing, and hopefully, it can help you too :)

6 comments