Have you ever taken a second to think about what prompts you to action?

What takes you from thinking about an idea to actually doing it?

That main driver for me has been FEAR.

And I have to say that for most of my life, it’s actually served me well.  As a young athlete, I was driven to practice every single day because I was fearful someone else would be better than me.  I was scared that I wouldn’t be the best player on the team.  So I became a star athlete.

As an academic in my early 20’s, I kept striving for high grades.  At the time, I thought it was because I was really smart and had goals to become a PhD, but looking back, my actions were driven by fear.  I was scared I wouldn’t meet the professors’ expectations.  Scared any lowered grades would rob me of my scholarship.  So I became a star academic.

As an entrepreneur for the past 6 years, fear drove me to take massive actions towards success.  I was afraid money would run out, so I became great at selling.  I was afraid I wasn’t a good enough leader, so I forced myself into positions of leadership so I could prove otherwise.  I was afraid I wasn’t nearly as good as my peers as I watched them flourish around me, so I did everything I could to launch books, create products, build a community, build a podcast…anything that would allow me to tell myself that I was worthy of this business journey.

On the surface, it may appear that fear has worked in my favor.  I mean, look at all goals I’ve reached, the businesses I’ve grown, the ways in which I’ve evolved because of the actions that fear encouraged me to take!

But dig a little deeper and you’ll discover that when we have fear as the spark that ignites the gunpowder, the bullet has a limit on its reach.

During my vacation in Greece, I had three separate instances where anxiety suddenly built up in my stomach.  Thoughts of my business – more specifically, what was not happening in my business – would suddenly overtake me. Look what she is doing!  I’m not moving nearly as quickly as her!  I’m meeting with my mentor when I get back…how am I going to explain to her that I haven’t accomplished what I told her?  I can do so many things with the book I just launched and I haven’t done any of it!  I gotta stay on top of things!

Thoughts like these would jump into my mind and the anxiety it created would build in my gut.  If I had been in my daily life, this anxiety would have prompted me to take action fast!  And I would have been on the fast train to doing something
to abate these fears.

But, I was on vacation and the last thing I wanted to do was spend the precious time I had with my husband and his family doing work.  So, I forced myself to work through the anxiety.  Forced myself to swallow it and eradicate it of its power.

I forced myself not to take action.

And then a miracle happened.  My husband’s aunts became over protective of me.  A pregnant lady, no matter how old she is, apparently is cause for mass worry.  I learned the greek term prosi he! (be careful!) very well.  Going down stairs, I was instructed to hold someones hand every time.  Diving too much and swimming a lot in the water was “not good for the baby,” and god forbid I go on a walk by myself. I so worried, Katarina! I think you no come back!

As much as I was grateful for their care and knew it came from a place of love, my freespirited self was jumping out of my skin.

Why would I call this a miracle?

Because it wrapped it all up into one powerful epiphany for me.

When fear drives us to action, we lose our FREEDOM to live BIG and BOLDLY!

The entire flight home, I committed to be driven, not by fear, but by possibilities and purpose and abundance.  I envisioned a work week that was not filled with to-do lists that make my stomach churn, but with ideas, power and happiness.

And that meant dealing with the negative self talk in a way that did not use the fear it created, but put its fire out completely.

That means moving through that fear and coming to a place of vision and possibility before any action is taken.

If we let fear drive us, despite the fact that it looks like forward progress, it ultimately depletes us of our ability to be truly great.

And I have to tell you, this manner of pursuing your dreams is SO MUCH more enjoyable than the alternative.

• All of a sudden, I’m not focusing on what I lack, or where I have failed.  I’m focused on what I’ve accomplished…no matter how tiny the progress has been.

• All of a sudden, I dive into my short to-do list with vigor and excitement and FOCUS.  

• All of a sudden, I’m getting more done with my time than ever before.

• All of a sudden, I’m treating this as more of a game and having fun with it…and laughing a hell of a lot more!

How have you seen fear drive you?  How have you seen it hold you back even when you’re taking actions?