Another one of my mantras is: don’t be afraid. It’s easy. I tell it to myself all the time. When I get worried, or stressed, and I’m not sure what to do, I’ll tell myself: don’t be afraid.

Why? Because fear is an overweight counterbalance in the risk equation, and measured risk creates progress. When you give into fear, you’re sacrificing potential for comfort. You’re giving up the long term for the short term. You’re saying safe is better than awesome.

Don’t be afraid…

… to ask questions. Questions are the best way to learn. It’s not showing that you’re stupid, it’s showing that you are curious and want to do the right thing.

… to look for answers on your own. You’re getting paid to solve problems. Getting better at the meta-problem of how to solve problems is the best way to create long-term success.

… to try something that you’re not sure you can do. We grow by getting slightly outside our comfort zone, trying something new, and learning from it.

… to ask for help. Nobody can solve every problem. Not all problems can be fixed by one person. Your boss’s job is to help remove roadblocks and obstacles. They can’t remove obstacles that they don’t know about.

… to try to do it on your own. You’re usually more capable than you think. Even if it’s scary, it’s usually the fear that undermines your success, not your skill.

… to make a mistake. We learn from our mistakes. Good leaders embrace mistakes as learning opportunities. Bad leaders criticize or fire people that make mistakes. If they do, it’s their problem, not yours.

… to escalate. If you think you’re right, and they’re wrong, push it up a level. If a peer manager is blocking you, escalate to their boss and your boss. Talk to your skip-level manager if your boss is being a bad boss. Speak up when your boss is screwing up.

… to move to another role. We grow not only by being promoted, but by trying new things. Go back and read my article about how you gotta do what makes you happy, because it talks a lot about how to do this.

… to persevere through difficult times. Perseverance and grit usually lead to better long-term happiness. You get a salary because what you do is sometimes hard, boring, or annoying. Get through those tough times, to get to the good ones.

For me, the key is that you need to check yourself when making a hard decision, and ask if fear is what’s holding you back. If it’s a reasonable fear – meaning the risk of something going horribly wrong is reasonable – then yeah, don’t do it. But if it’s irrational fear (as it usually is), and the likely outcomes range from “good” to “meh, kinda bad, maybe?” then you should go for it.

Particularly if one possible outcome is “awesome.” Never devalue awesome!

Now, I also recognize my privilege. I talked about it in my post about luck. I’ve had the luxury of never being afraid to speak to power. What are they going to do, fire me? For me, that’s always only been in the “meh, kinda bad, maybe” category. Therefore, I recognize that ideas like “don’t be afraid to escalate may not always be the best advice. If you’ve got a job that’s keeping your head barely above water, and you’ve got a boss that’s a jerk, and you’re sure you’re going to get fired if you go over his head, then yeah, maybe don’t escalate. Remember, if the fear is rational and reasonable, then don’t do it. (But maybe look for another job? If you can, of course.)

Unfortunately, I’ve also worked at companies where, if you make a significant mistake, the CEO will walk down the aisle and fire you on the spot. The result is stagnation – people will put in a lot of effort to look busy, without actually doing anything. At those companies, “don’t be afraid to make a mistake” can be bad advice (and yes, I looked for another job).

So… what are you afraid of?