Fear is good. That’s a strange thing to say as we mostly hear that we should be fearless to accomplish our goals and reach our destinies. However, I’ve recently come to the conclusion this decidedly one-sided view is myopic in its scope. We love absolute statements and philosophies. Compartmentalizing simply makes life easier. Unfortunately, we lose sense of scale when we do this and close off the exploration of different paths. My challenge for you today is to deconstruct the need to categorize emotions into positive and negative…starting with fear.

I do believe in being fearless and courageous when attempting risky tasks that are out of your comfort zone. To be an entrepreneur is to be fearless. Yet, it is also to be incredibly fearful. Fearful of failure, fearful of running out of money, fearful of letting your team down, fearful of being a bad leader, the list goes on. I tell people who are potential entrepreneurs that they must attack their goals fearlessly because this is what they wish to hear much of the time. However, what I’ve truly learned through my many years of building businesses is that the fear is what keeps me going. It is what impassions me to overcome hurdles set in my way. Without fear I have no impetus or desire to fight.

I am not suggesting that we thrive on fear but to understand it as a neutrality and tool that can be used to accomplish your dreams and goals in life. It can cripple most, yet give another the desire to overcome adversity. Stripping away the negative or positive connotations can help you see fear, or any emotion for that matter, for what it means in that particular moment that you experience it and know the truth behind it. Truth is all I seek now as the whimsical journey we call life perpetuates us forward in unknown directions. I am afraid of what lies ahead. I am not afraid to face it.