Forget About Goal Setting. Do This Instead.

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Do I know enough to start a business? Why should people listen to me? Will I make any money? If you’re an entrepreneur or creator, chances are these questions have crossed your mind.

Luckily, fear was never a problem when I launched my first online business — just kidding! I’ve yet to meet an entrepreneur who didn’t have something keeping them up at night. 

So much of the entrepreneurial narrative focuses on courage and accomplishment: Set big goals. Don’t be deterred by setbacks. This is good advice. But fears are part of the journey, and creators are especially susceptible due to this work's highly visible, personal nature. Surveys show up to 82% of people struggle with imposter syndrome. And that’s just one of the many fears creators may navigate while building their business. In a recent poll we conducted, one-third of respondents said fear of failure was the main reason they have yet to take the plunge into entrepreneurship.

I recently started watching Limitless with Chris Hemsworth, which includes some entertaining approaches to fears and the stress and limitations they can bring. But you don’t have to walk atop an 80-storey skyscraper or climb a rope dangling over a canyon to eradicate limiting fears.

Here are my top three strategies to keep fears from standing between you and your goals.

When successful creators are honest about their fears and insecurities, it can help normalize those feelings for aspiring entrepreneurs who follow them.

Bring fears out into the open

Like a monster hiding under the bed, fears often shrink from close examination. Sometimes, just naming them is enough to keep fears at bay.

There’s also merit to sharing your fears with a friend or peer. Chances are they can empathize or offer a solution. In fact, being open and transparent about your struggles can build connections with others who have likely faced their own version of those fears. 

Take chart-topping podcasters Simran Kaur and Sonya Gupthan, who were building their own financial literacy skills when they launched Girls That Invest to help young women of color learn about wealth creation. They’ve spoken openly about their experiences with imposter syndrome even as they’ve built a growing and sustainable business that generates weekly revenues well into six-figure territory. 

When successful creators are honest about their fears and insecurities, it can help normalize those feelings for aspiring entrepreneurs who follow them. But if naming or sharing your fears isn’t enough to silence them, more serious interventions may be in order. Luckily, there are several strategies to help you do just that.

Develop a fear-busting toolkit

Moving through fears is essential to growth and opportunity. Entrepreneur Kevin N. Lawrence illustrates this perfectly in his “4 Forces of Growth” framework. 

Imagine a continuum from fear to courage bisected by another continuum from problems to opportunities. Growth happens at the intersection of courage and opportunity. Opposite, bordered by fear and problems, lies agony. If you’re spending more than 10% of your time in agony, you must find your way out of that stifling box.

Sometimes, this fix can be practical. For example, if financial insecurity worries you, create an emergency fund and a budget that allows you to live within your means. This is no small feat – fewer than half of all Americans have $1,000 socked away for emergencies – but it will pay rich dividends. For entrepreneurs already managing mountains of uncertainty, financial fears can feed a scarcity mindset that makes creation and innovation even more difficult. An emergency fund, however modest, offers peace of mind.

There are other systematic approaches for managing intangible fears, like imposter syndrome. I use a “fear drawer” – although mine is a digital folder – writing down fears and filing them away to get them off my mind. Entrepreneur Tim Ferriss recommends quarterly “fear setting” to brainstorm worst-case scenarios and actions you could take to prevent or repair the damage. Whatever system, ring-fence your fears so you can get back to work.

Another good strategy is to keep a record of goals and benchmarks to prevent fears from tricking you into thinking you’re failing. As a young entrepreneur, I often found myself setting goals and then unconsciously raising the bar for “success”.

Say you’re hoping an event will attract 50 people. You might feel great when 100 people show – until you notice another person’s event drew 200, kicking your “not good enough” fears into high gear. Comparison can definitely be the thief of joy - so hold yourself accountable to reviewing the goal you set and take a moment to celebrate your wins. 

Be Ready to Power Through When Fears Resurface

Despite best efforts, some fears never really dissipate. As you progress, old fears may come back, if in slightly varied forms. 

This is normal, as the evolution of your business brings new challenges (and new things to be afraid of). In fact, if you stop being afraid, it could be a sign that you’re stagnating or even falling behind. 

Imagine your business potential is like a forest. You could spend all your time sheltering one tree from too much sun, making sure lightning doesn't strike it, and guarding it day and night, so nobody cuts it down. And at the end of the year, you’ll have one healthy tree. But if you keep planting trees and watering them, you might have 1,000 trees at the end of the year. Even if something terrible happens to your first tree and a dozen others, you still have hundreds of trees. 

Remember, the formula for growth is courage plus opportunity. Like Dory said in Finding Nemo, you’ve got to keep swimming. Find a way to work through your trepidation. Action beats perfection every time.

Leaning into fears might seem counterintuitive. On the surface, the idea contradicts useful truisms about positive thinking and tackling impossible dreams. But fears are endemic to the entrepreneurial journey. By identifying them, systematically managing them, and being prepared for their inevitable resurfacing, you can keep fear in its place and focus your attention where it belongs.

Thanks for reading! I'd love to hear your perspective in the comments below. For more insights on taking your business and career to the next level, be sure to subscribe to The Way We Work to have this delivered each month to your inbox.