Overcoming the Fear of Starting Something New

I've been wanting to make a course for years, but have always felt unqualified and unprepared.

Despite years of proven successes in the real world, I couldn't shake the feeling that there was someone else better qualified than me to create my course.

Three ideas from Scribe School helped change my perspective. Hopefully they'll provide some comfort to others who are/were feeling similarly fearful of getting started.

1. You don't have to be THE expert your subject.
Expertise is like a ladder - some people are below you, some people are above. By creating a course, you're sharing what you know with people below you on the ladder. As long as you're a "relative" expert, you have value to add to the world. If you genuinely have something that can help other people, you're doing a morally good thing by sharing that knowledge. Others might have even more to share, and that's fine for them. But individually you ought to share what you can.

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2. Fear is just excitement with a negative frame.
The physical response is the same in both cases. Blood cortisol levels go up, focus increases, tension increases, etc. Your mental approach is all that distinguishes fear from excitement. The key to overcoming fear is to reframe it. Cognitive Behavior Therapy teaches the value of making this explicit. Those with anxiety are coached to literally and explicitly tell themselves "I am excited right now" whenever they feel fearful.

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3. Fully expressing the fear helps reduce it.
This point is part of my motivation to create this post. As Stan Grof says: "The full expression of a negative emotion is the funeral pyre of that emotion". Being open, vulnerable, and honest is a proven route to reduce fear.

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The instructor of the Scribe School course shares a process called "Fear Solving" that takes about 30 minutes to complete but can really help with point #3. I've included the 10 step process below in case you're feeling fearful about creating something as well.

1. List your fears. What are you scared of? Be as honest as possible, even if they sound ridiculous.
2. For each fear, write how likely it is to actually happen.
3. If there's a chance any of your fears happen, what are the social, emotional, and financial consequences of them happening?
4. How can you prevent these consequences, or reduce their impact?
5. How can you use the energy from this fear to help motivate yourself?
6. What are the benefits for you, if you can overcome your fears?
7. Who else will benefit if you overcome this fear? Your friends, family, strangers?
8. What if you quit and avoid the fear entirely?
9. Who is a specific real person you currently know who is suffering because you have not overcome your fear?
10. With all of that written down, is it worth doing whatever you're considering? To quote Derek Sivers, it should be a "Hell Yes" or its a "no".

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Did you feel fearful when you first started? If so, how did you get over it?
Do you currently feel nervous about something? How are you overcoming that fear?

Interested to hear from other indie creators, either here or on Twitter!