Fear Is Loud, But It Is Not The Boss
Back in 2019, I picked up a book that quietly shifted something deep inside me.
It didn’t change me overnight. It didn’t blow up my world.
But it did something even better—it gave me permission to start.
To start trying. To start believing. To start moving forward, even when I wasn’t completely ready.
Not just in my personal world-but my entrepreneurial journey as well.
The Book That Gave Me Permission
The book was called Do It Scared by New York Times bestselling author Ruth Soukup.
It’s subtitle reads:
Finding the Courage to Face Your Fears, Overcome Adversity, and Create a Life You Love.
That subtitle alone met me right where I was. (As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases)
For years, fear had the microphone—and I didn’t even realize it was the one making the decisions.
After reading Do It Scared, I began to understand something important:
Courage doesn’t come before action.
It comes because of action.
Healing and Building Can Happen at the Same Time
At the time, I was carrying more fear than I realized.
Some of it came from tragedy.
Some from wounds that hadn’t fully healed.
And some from words I had internalized so deeply that I didn’t even recognize they were still shaping my choices.
Reading that book helped me identify those fears and begin the long process of loosening their grip.
Not all at once.
Just one step at a time.
Fear Doesn’t Always Shout
The truth is, fear doesn’t always show up in obvious ways.
Sometimes it whispers.
It hides behind hesitation.
It disguises itself as practicality, perfectionism, or caution.
It asks questions like:
“What will people think?”
“Who am I to do this?”
“What if I fail?”
The longer I lived with those questions, the more I realized something.
Fear isn’t weakness.
It’s a wound.
And wounds take time to heal.
Growth Isn’t Instant—And That’s OK
That’s the part nobody talks about enough.
In a world obsessed with instant results, overnight success stories, and Amazon Prime deliveries, we forget that real growth is slow.
Unlearning fear takes time.
Rebuilding confidence takes time.
Healing after heartbreak, trauma, disappointment, or judgment takes time.
We are not machines.
We are human beings—soft, sacred, and strong in a different way.
Growth rarely happens in giant leaps.
More often, it happens quietly.
One decision.
One lesson.
One brave step at a time.
Give Yourself Grace
So if you’re still scared…
If you’re still healing…
If you’re still in the middle of becoming who you’re meant to be…
Give yourself some grace.
You’re not behind.
You’re not failing.
You’re not doing it wrong.
You’re simply growing.
Let the healing do its quiet work.
Let the fear rise.
And then keep moving forward anyway.
Do it scared.
Because your story isn’t over.
In many ways, it’s just getting started.
And if fear has been sitting in the driver’s seat for a while, maybe today is the day you gently take the wheel back.
Not because you’re fearless.
But because you’re ready to move forward anyway.
