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.

According to Psychology Today, fear of success is real.

Sadly.

Fortunately, acknowledging a problem is on the path to solving the problem.

Adam, thank you so much for posting!

And Danielle - I actually think that success is my ultimate fear. What if it all goes right and my whole life as I know it changes? It's the fear of change and the unknown.

Great discussion points!

i think the fear of success is really just that, suzannah, fear of change. and fear of change is fear of loss - fear of losing what is known. even if what we know is killing us or making us sad and lonely, or frustrated. i think the antidote to this, though, is flipping the script on uncertainty: seeing it as the only place really worth living in because it's where life happens and living is the richest experience we can have in life, right?

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.

Well said, Chris. Well said.

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.