Screw Fear. Act.
“Screw fear!” This needs to become a mantra for women to inspire us to act. How often do we wait and wait to take action on projects, because we continue to feel we’re not ready. Or, that it’s not the right time. We don’t have the right skillsets or resources. But, when are we going to be ready? Oftentimes, it’s not readiness but fear that is standing in our way.
As has been reported over the last several years, unfortunately we women have a “confidence gap” relative to men. Our not acting is often due to a lack of confidence. Two journalists, Katty Kay and Claire Shipman, wrote the book, “The Confidence Code,” and The Atlantic published their article, “The Confidence Gap” in 2014, both speaking to this topic of confidence and action. (Note: I highly recommend the read for yourself, and especially if you are raising a daughter.) While there are many factors that impact why the gap exists, the biggest take-away from the article is to act. Women often just stop themselves from even trying.
Seth Godin, the well-known marketing guru, has written on fear in a past blog post: “…the right question is, ‘How do I dance with the fear?’ Fear is not the enemy. Paralysis is the enemy.” Again, stopping rather than acting is the problem.
Fear isn’t going to go away. We need to find a better way to manage through the fear to face our challenges head on and conquer them. We need to trust we can complete and get to the other side of a challenge. Most of us make it through to the end of an assignment, a project, a business event—maybe a little worse for wear, but we make it. How often is it that we truly fail? My guess is this happens less often than we think, but even if we did fail, the insight these days is that failures are powerful because they result in learning and growth. So either way, we come out the other side in a better position—we tried and we succeeded, or we tried and we became smarter and stronger.
So, why not try? Why not act? As said by Rabbi Hillel the Elder in the Talmud: “If not you, who? If not now, when?”
The Insight: It’s time to get beyond fear and act. Women are more capable and strong than we often give ourselves credit. It’s time to move and embrace whatever outcome comes. Screw fear. Just act.