Fear of the unknown

It is normal to be scared of the unknown like trying a different career, adopting a unique lifestyle or approaching life in a different way. Fearful thoughts sneak in like you are not good enough, you don’t know what you are doing, you will be in big trouble, they will shout at you and reject you and on and on such thoughts keep coming.

Also a common idea in such a dilemma is trying to figure it out and know everything in advance without even starting or trying the new venture. For example, you find people reading every book about that subject, asking every expert, watching every you-tube video and listening to most of the podcast episodes. This is what I call the analysis paralysis. You don’t want to start or try unless you read and know every single thing about it.

I don’t deny our need to understand the thing we wanna pursue before starting. But when we allow the fear of the unknown to control us, that is where we find ourselves lost in the gathering and analysing of information without actually doing anything about it.

I like this quote I learned from one of the TED talks when the presenter said: Learn just enough for you to start. It is not necessary to learn everything about that subject. Just get the enough concepts and tools that enable you to take your first right move today.

Now you maybe wondering: How will I know that I have learned enough to start? Well learning enough is where you see yourself in a better position to start today with the information and knowledge you have. Sometimes we think we need to be superheroes or superstars and need to know everything. But that is unrealistic and tends to keep you stuck in that knowledge seeking phase for longer periods of time.

So what are you scared of? What is the origin of your fear? How is your relationship with the unknown? When you start a new project, hobby or anything, how is your internal state? When you are scared, worried and fearful of the unknown, what you normally do?

Thinking and working with these questions can give you a clue where and what you stand for in relation to the fear of the unknown.