Why a Little Fear Isn’t Just Normal, It’s Good

My mouse hovered over the “Send” button. 

Palms sweating, heart racing, I knew I had to send the email, but fear (& imposter syndrome) invaded my mind. 

After a deep breath, I closed my eyes, clicked, and it was done. 

The draft was sent. 

For better or worse, my client had the article, and it was out of my hands as to how they would react.

Have you ever had a moment of fear like this in your professional life?

One where you’ve worked your ass off, but aren’t quite sure what the receiver will think? Or maybe one where you made a bold move without asking first and wondered if the risk would pay off, hoping whoever you’re doing the work for loves your moxie? 

As a writer, I have these experiences frequently. 

It’s certainly not every project, and the more and varied kinds of projects I do, the farther apart they are. But, fear is a part of creative life, and as far as I can tell, there’s no way around it. 

It feels almost like being the new kid in school, hoping the other kids will see how awesome you are before they realize you’re too tall, you’ve got braces, and your sense of humor is still too grown up for you. 

Or walking into a brand new office full of people knowing they’ve all been working together for the last decade and you’re the first new person in years. Yikes.  

We talk about being professional in a way that implies that once we’re the “expert” we’ll never be scared again. Or once we’ve done what we do best for a long time, we’ll just magically become fearless - hence the term “fearless leader,” right? 

That’s patently false. 

No matter how long you’ve been doing something, or how far up you get in the professional food chain, there will always be an element of fear. But who says that’s a bad thing? 

I guess a good majority of the world does often say that fear is a weakness - that’s how we’re taught to think. Being fearless and overcoming fear are seen as praiseworthy accomplishments, and in a sense they are. No one should have to live their entire lives paralyzed by fear. 

But fear doesn’t always have to be the bad guy! I mean, it’s always there anyway (even if you’re good at compartmentalizing it to the back of your mind), so you might as well accept it and figure out why it’s there - and what the heck it’s going to do, right? 

Fear will always be part of our professional lives. Here’s why:

No matter how much you accomplish, there will always be things you don’t know and/or haven’t done.

Plain and simple, you can’t know everything (and you don’t need to). You can be as expert as expert can be and still not know as much as someone else about a topic outside of your area. 

You can study and know something back and forth and still accidentally leave a hole in your knowledge. Those holes, no matter how small, will probably leave you feeling inept because you “should have known” whatever it is you missed.

No one wants to leave that vulnerability open in the professional world - the not knowing everything bit - because they feel like it makes them seem less of an expert. Less trustworthy. Less professional.

It doesn’t, though. It makes you human! 

We’re not robots or computers. We’re people! And people sometimes miss or forget things, which is okay. 

What it really comes down to is a fear of not being respected or accepted. You bring a unique wealth of experience and knowledge to the table, and that’s enough. 

Your fear is trying to protect you from embarrassment or judgement, which is a nice thought, in theory. That being said, fear doesn’t have to, and shouldn’t, run your professional life. 

There have been and will continue to be people telling you that you’re not good enough or don’t “meet the mark.”

I know you’ve had an experience at work or in school where someone told you that your best wasn’t good enough. Even if it was supposed to be “nice” or “polite” or labeled as “constructive criticism” (that was actually just regular criticism in disguise).  

We’ve ALL been there, and it sucks. No sugar, spice, or something nice about it. Being rejected hurts, especially when you’ve poured yourself into the project. The unfortunate thing about it is that it will keep happening. 

So our fear kicks in and warns us “Watch out! You love this thing, better be careful who you share it with.” Totally legit. You should be careful who you send your heartfelt work to. 

BUT, you won’t always be rejected! In fact, as you learn and grow, experience will show you how to improve so you get rejected less. You become better at tasks you struggle with and learn to adapt when you do get rejected so it hurts a little less than the last time. 

In the business world, a lot of rejection isn’t personal, even when it feels that way (and believe me, it really really does sometimes). Your project may be one of a hundred the person looks at and has to pick one. That doesn’t mean your project is bad! It just means that someone else fits their needs better this time. 

Growing is pretty much always scary because you have to get uncomfortable.

I’m gonna be honest: I’m a creature of comfort. I think most of us are. We like knowing what we know & we feel really good when we can help others with what we know. That’s pretty much the basis of business, with some money tossed into the mix. 

But if we want to be our best selves and grow professionally, we have to commit to it. We have to want to grow, and if you’ve ever been the person learning a new skill (likely), you’ll know that it can be really uncomfortable. 

You know the kind of discomfort I mean - feeling like you don’t know anything, so how could you possibly do the thing? Even crazier if you don’t know how to do the thing (or you’re terrible at it) and you want to start a business with it. Laughable! 

Or so we tell ourselves. But is it actually crazy to think we could learn a new skill and implement it? Is it actually so unbelievable that a smart person could leverage their strengths and create a career based on what they love instead of doing something mind-numbingly boring that they know backwards and forwards for the next 40 years? 

I don’t think so, and I don’t think you do either. But your fear probably does. 

Mine definitely did! Who am I to run a business? And enjoy it? And be good at it? WTF? 

But, you know what? I did it anyway (because I’m stubborn as hell - much more so than my fear). And I am good at it. And it is awesome. The fear is still there, and you know what? I like it. It keeps me honest because truly, there is a lot I don’t know.

I don’t pretend to know it all about business - the basics, sure, but that’s what other experts are for, to help me learn! That’s not why people work with me either. They work with me because I’m exceptional at stories and storytelling and working with words in a way that most people can’t (or won’t learn how to do).

So when I hesitate for a moment before sending an article (not terribly uncommon), my fear hovers for a moment, I acknowledge it’s there, and then I click send and go on about my day. Because my best is enough, and it’s good - yours is, too.

The feedback I got on the sweaty palm, heart racing article? “This is the best work you've done so far. You're like a fine wine... just getting better with time. Awesome work!” 

I get emails like this probably 95% (or more) of the time I’m nervous about client work. The fear? Almost entirely unfounded - but it’s part of putting so much of yourself into the work you do. Even when it’s there, I never let it stop me. 

If you’ve had, or are still having, fears in your professional life, take a breath, acknowledge them, and move forward. Whether that’s clicking send on an important email, asking for a raise, suggesting an organizational change, or even finding a new career - one you love - go for it. 

You can do it. You’ll be scared, but that’s okay, be bold and do it anyway.