…Or just excited? 

Fear and excitement create a lot of the same physiological reactions in your body.

Jittery hands.

Feeling clammy. 

Elevated heart rate. 

We’ve got this little thing in our brain (the amygdala) that did a great job keeping us safe on the savannah and in the jungles thousands of years ago… But now it’s keeping us from bravely shipping our art… or leading other people.

The problem is it can’t tell the difference between a saber tooth tiger (real danger) and the not-so-dangerous act of publishing your work. 

It FEELS dangerous… But it’s not. And yet we get the same physiological reaction. 

So maybe you aren’t scared. Maybe you’re just feeling excited about possibilities instead. So when you feel those feelings, you should ask yourself, “What am I excited about?”

Is this the kind of fear that is keeping me safe from harm? 

Or is this the kind of fear that is keeping me from being at my best?