Thank you Suzannah Scully for the shout-out to PandaWhale!

Suzannah writes:

I want to talk about the subject matter at hand, fear.

I do a lot of research and reading in my free time about souls and life after death and past lives.

That's what I "geek out" on.

Let me tell you from all of my research, it's the same findings and message.

We come from love.

And when we die, we go back to love.

It's as simple as that.

Any fear that we have is really made up in our brain.

We're here to learn. To grow as souls.

To experience.

But the only way to do that is to take risks.

And as I'm sitting here at my desk, I'm thinking about the fears I had to overcome to get to where I am now...

What if it doesn’t work? What if it’s too much work? Who am I to start a startup? I’m a mom in the burbs...

Read the rest of the article.

I think those emotions -- especially love and fear -- are ever-present in entrepreneurs, who must balance those emotions to get things done.

Interest in learning and willingness to take risks are the two driving forces that make us willing to take on a world-changing mission.

To succeed, an entrepreneur must manage her or his emotions.

That's the hardest thing we can do. It's also the most important, because startups are filled with many ups and many downs, and if we ride the roller coaster all the way up and all the way down each time, it has significant wear-and-tear on our brains, and prevents us from making great decisions.

Do not fear failure.

Instead, put your energy into planning for success.

Unless of course you fear success, sounds crazy but I hear it happens.

I found the video particularly touching because Jennifer Goodman Linn was a classmate of mine in business school. Cancer claimed her too soon, but the organization she started, Cycle for Survival, has raised nearly $15 million for cancer research.

If people who are dying of cancer act fearlessly, surely the rest of us can as well.

Early in my career I was embarrassed by the emotions like anger, frustration and sadness that would overwhelm me. In time I've learned not just to manage them (as in control or constrain), but instead to channel them (redirect the energy positively). I've realized that emotions are a raw form of passion that when appropriately channeled can lift huge objects, move enormous barriers. I'm still working on the nerves, but I find that it helps to think of them as a raw form of energy rather than as a weakness.