I’m no stranger to fear. When I left my corporate job years ago, fear knocked on the door. It was an unexpected visit and boy, did he make himself present. I couldn’t get anything done because I was entertaining him day and night. That’s not great when you quit your job to go full time with your own business.

Fear had so many questions for me. “Are you crazy?”. “What have you done?”, “All you know is the corporate world, how are you going to survive?”….

These questions shocked me because I had made the decision to leave myself. But when the excitement had settled and reality kicked in, fear saw the free space in my head, jumped in, put its feet up, planning to settle in for a while.

It’s hard to imagine now because it’s so many years later. What kept me going at the time was a German exam. I made myself study German for 2 hours every morning to get me going otherwise I knew I’d be stuck for the day.

Having some momentum helped me slowly come to terms with my new situation. I started seeing fear as a friend instead of an unwelcome guest. It was there to protect me, ask deep questions and help me see reality too.

Nowadays, when fear comes knocking, I put on the kettle and prepare for a good heart to heart to see what’s brought this visit.