Whether you work for an event or hospitality company or run your own small business, learning how to overcome fear is a big part of succeeding in your career. Working in service to others is a stressful way to make a living. We’re constantly expected to exceed expectations and execute in creative ways that haven’t been done before and our industry is very competitive and constantly changing. In this kind of environment, it’s normal to experience anxiety and trepidation. Here’s how to overcome fear and thrive.

To Overcome Fear, Face It!

The first step to overcoming fear in your career is to acknowledge it. Fear is a powerful emotion that often sneaks up on us in times that we can’t control things or lack understanding. You might feel fear when you’re preparing for an event and realize there are many unknown variables that could impact your work. Or, fear may take over when you’re faced with a new challenge that you haven’t experienced before.

Thankfully, fear is just an emotion, which means it doesn’t have to last forever. Today, I’m sharing strategies for overcoming fear. Check out the video above, the highlights below, or a full video transcript at the bottom of this page!

Make a List of Your Fears

When fear lives in our heads, it can run wild and cause a lot of damage. Take away fear’s power by making a list of what really makes you feel afraid. Are you scared that the client will be unhappy with your results? Are you fearful that your boss will look down on you if you don’t accomplish this new task? Are you afraid that you won’t be able to pay rent if you fail in your new business idea?

Physically write down all the things that make you feel anxious and afraid. In doing so, you take away fear’s power. Now, you just have a list of words on a page, and you can ask yourself if they’re really true. If they are, you can then find support to tackle them.

Seek Out Cheerleaders

It’s important to share your fears with people who believe in you. If you’re struggling to find confidence in your ability to slay your next challenge, your cheerleaders will help you see the light. Spend time with people who remind you of your strengths and abilities. Emotional support is extremely important in overcoming fear.

Hunt Down Trailblazers

While cheerleaders will help you find confidence to grow in your career or small business, they may not be able to help you conquer the unknown. Sometimes, you need real talk from people who have experience and can propel you toward action. These trailblazers are people who have fought similar battles to the one you’re going through. Identify people in your life who have overcome fears similar to those on your list, and ask them for support. Before you know it, the path before you will become clear, and your fears will have less control over you.

Video Transcript: How to Overcome Fear

Below is a transcript of the video, “How to Overcome Fear,” Published February 25, 2020 on YouTube:

Don Mamone (00:00):

Hey everybody, thanks for being here today. In case you don’t know me, I’m Don Mamone. I’m a hospitality veteran, I’m an artist, I’m also an entrepreneur. Today we’re going to talk about a four letter word. No, no, not that four letter word. Today we’re going to talk about fear and more importantly, we’re going to talk about how to overcome fear to achieve your goals.

What is fear anyway? Fear at its base level is an emotion. Don’t get me wrong, I understand it’s a very powerful emotion. It can oftentimes feel paralyzing and something that you can’t overcome but I guarantee, fear is something that you can move past so that you can achieve your goals. I want to tell you a story. I’m going to tell you a story about a time in my life where had I not been able to overcome fear, it would have changed the course of my entire future. It’s 2007, I’d spent eight long years in hospitality. I say long years because of the hours. It’s nights, it’s weekends, it’s holidays, it’s whatever it takes to get the job done. I took a job at the corporate office largely nine to five Monday through Friday, and I suddenly found myself with an abundance of free time. So what did I do?

Don Mamone (01:11):

I picked up my camera. For two glorious years, I was working that job and photographing in my free time and I was loving everything about it right up until my project got canceled, unexpectedly. And here’s the circumstance. I could either go back to the life that I knew or I could strike out this bold new path and I can become a photographer. See, what brings about fear are things that we don’t expect, things that we can’t control and oftentimes things that we can’t understand. So I remember that that fear was overwhelming and almost paralyzing. So I sat down with my fiance, she’s now my wife, business partner and the mother of my daughter and we made a list. We had a very long list of all the things that I was scared of and that were inducing that fear. As I started to talk to people in my life about it, I found that people were supportive, loving, caring, enthusiastic and those things were wonderful and I’ve now called those people my cheerleaders. That wasn’t really helping me with the list or with the fear.

Don Mamone (02:14):

So it was then that I identified that I needed to find a group of people that had been through what I was about to go through. I call those people our trailblazers. A trailblazer is someone who has been through what you’re about to go through. So I was about to start a business. I didn’t know how to start a business. I didn’t know how to run a business. And so my list spoke to a lot of the things that have to do with that.

Don Mamone (02:37):

So I reached out to people that had started and were currently running successful businesses. And when I sat down with those people and they looked at my list, they were able to say things like, “Don, when I was in that circumstance, I was just as fearful as you are and these are the ways that I was able to achieve that goal. These are the resources I used.” And suddenly those things that I was afraid weren’t quite as scary and so I could cross them off my list. So as you talk to your trailblazers, they’re going to look at your list and they’re going to provide you with action and experience. Here’s the magic. As you cross those items off the list and it gets shorter and shorter and inevitably disappears, so does the fear. So let’s recap. Hold dear the cheerleaders in your life that provides you kindness and love and support, encouragement and enthusiasm. But when you’re facing a fear, find the trailblazers, have them help you with your list. Ask them to provide you with actions and experience. And as that list disappears, so does the fear.

Don Mamone (03:40):

Okay, that’s it for today. I know you enjoyed this video. I know you did. So make sure you give me a thumbs up. I ask you to please consider the subscribe button because we’re going to be sharing lots of future content. And for this video in the content section, I would really love it if you would tell us some stories of ways in which you’ve overcome fear in your life to achieve your goals. Or if you’re stuck in one of those places where that fear is overwhelming, tell us about that and I’ll bet you we can crowdsource some answers to make sure that you overcome that fear and you can achieve your goal. All right. Thanks again for being here and have a great day.

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Don Mamone

Relationship Marketer, Speaker & Educator

If you have an upcoming hospitality or event industry meeting that could benefit from a session on overcoming fear, Don Mamone can facilitate an engaging speech or workshop that significantly impacts your attendees. Don is a business consultant, keynote speaker and professional photography with over two decades of experience in hospitality and events. His speaking topics focus on people principles that lead to profit. Both small business owners and employees for larger hospitality brands benefit from his caring, engaging workshops and speeches!