The Fear That Almost Stopped Me
Let’s talk about fear—because fear is a game-stopper for so many of us. It was for me, too.
Back in college, I needed extra money during Christmas break. My sister worked at Sears, and so did her boyfriend. I figured if they could get a job, so could I. I showed up for an interview with about twenty other applicants. They had three openings.
I didn’t even know what the job was. Turns out, it was demonstrating and selling drill guides.
I’d never held a drill in my life. I didn’t even know what a drill guide was. But I needed the money—and that meant I needed the courage to try.
Learning Through Action
The trainers gave us a crash course: how to use the drill guide, how to make perfect straight holes every time, and how to pitch it.
Now, I’m left-handed, which meant I had to reverse everything. But I adapted, practiced, and learned to sell.
When it was time for live demonstrations, something surprising happened. I nailed it.
The trainer said she was shocked—I’d been quiet all day, but when it came time to sell, I sold the darn thing.
That day, I learned that fear doesn’t disappear—it just becomes fuel for action.
Fear, Courage, and Growth
Here’s what that experience taught me:
- If you didn’t have fear, you wouldn’t need courage.
- If you didn’t face risk, you wouldn’t grow.
Courage isn’t the absence of fear—it’s moving through it. That one small job became the blueprint for how I approached every leadership challenge thereafter.
Why Fear Is Useless
Fear, uncertainty, and doubt—what I call FUD—are mental quicksand. They hold us back from doing the very things that could change our trajectory.
At the end of the day, fear is useless because:
- It lies. Fear convinces you something is riskier than it really is.
- It freezes. You can’t grow if you’re paralyzed.
- It delays. Every “I’ll do it later” pushes your success further away.
The best leaders I know don’t wait for fear to leave—they lead anyway.
The Lesson for Modern Leaders
Whether you’re demonstrating a drill guide or pitching a multimillion-dollar project, the process is the same:
- Learn the tool.
- Trust the process.
- Stand up and sell it.
Fear doesn’t go away because you reach executive level. It just shows up in new forms: presenting to a board, leading a failing project, negotiating funding. The only difference is that seasoned leaders have learned to keep selling through the fear.
Call to Action
At the end of the day, courage is the most transferable leadership skill there is.
So—what are you afraid of?
A new role?
A new idea?
A new beginning?
Sell the darn thing.
Do what you need to do. If you fail, learn. If you succeed, repeat. Either way, you grow.
