Overcome Your Fears to Achieve Investment and Entrepreneurial Success – Conquering Fear, Part 1

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What’s the number one thing that keeps us from taking action and achieving what we want in life? 

You might answer that there’s never enough time or resources, but let’s be honest: There’s one underlying answer to all of the reasons we may give. It’s fear, the four-letter word. Today, we will explore how we approach fear and if our approach could be holding us back from our potential. 

This is such a big topic that we are doing it in two parts. This week, we’ll define fear and explore one set of strategies, and next week we’ll take it to the next level, showing you how to use your fears to your advantage. For now, let’s talk about why fear is so important.

Table of Contents

The Impact of Fear

Most of my life, I didn’t particularly like talking or thinking about fear. Mainly, I just tried to avoid it. When fear reared its head, I tended to go in the opposite direction. Maybe you’re similar. That’s the problem with fear: It can control you.

Recently, how I think about and approach fear completely changed. When I watched Tim Ferris’ TED Talk about fear, the author of The Four Hour Work Week, he talked about the importance of defining fear, figuring it out, and meeting it head on—almost the opposite approach to the one I’d taken my whole life. 

As Ferris pointed out, to name is to tame, and getting comfortable with fear can be the first step using fear to your advantage. It all starts with understanding that fear is completely normal. We all have fears. We’re actually wired to be afraid as a survival mechanism. In prehistoric times, our brain’s fear center kept us from getting eaten by saber-toothed tigers and similar beasts.

As healthcare professionals, we understand that the sympathetic nervous system takes over in the survival center. It triggers the flight response, pumps up our heart rate, and narrows our focus. Biologically, fear keeps us alive. 

But in today’s world, there are no saber-toothed tigers. Instead, fear shows up differently, and mostly as a stress response to what’s going on at home, work, our finances, and our work-life balance, just to name a few. These are modern experiences that don’t immediately threaten our survival, but they still trigger the survival mechanisms in our body, meaning that, left unchecked, they can drive us away from these very things we should foster and grow. Modern fear negatively impacts our decision making. 

So, let’s take a page out of Tim Ferris’ book and define very common fears we experience as investors and entrepreneurs. Even if you haven’t crossed that bridge yet but are interested in investing, see how many of these you experience on a daily basis. Have any prevented you from starting? 

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185 Fear Setting: How To Transform Apprehension Into Achievement ft. Peter Kim, MD

Top Fears of Investors & Entrepreneurs

1. Fear of Failure: Here, you avoid situations or new things because of the potential for an unsuccessful outcome. This fear prevents personal growth. 
2. Fear of Financial Loss: This is a form of loss aversion where you are less likely to invest in financial opportunities for fear of losing money, even though the opportunity itself could lead to life-changing returns. 
3. Fear of Reputation Damage: A fear that prevents action, it’s driven by not wanting a negative impact on you or your organization through external factors such as customer reviews. 
4. Fear of Missing Out: Stylized as FOMO, this anxiety is defined as not wanting to miss out on something special—like an investment opportunity. This fear clouds our judgment and leads to compulsive behavior not backed by due diligence. 
5. Fear of Opportunity Cost: A combination of FOMO and analysis paralysis, this is when you know the options available to you but are afraid of choosing one because the benefits of the others will be discarded. 
6. Fear of Legal Issues: A common fear in real estate, a market where litigation is normal, this is the concern surrounding potential legal consequences from an investment or decision. 

Whichever combination of fears weighs on you the most right now, I am confident in saying that they are keeping you from taking the action needed to live life on your terms. What’s worse, these fears linger in our bodies and minds. The longer they stay, the more they take away the opportunity to be our best selves.

New investors that I work with are, understandably, filled with all sorts of fears. And it tends to fuel an analysis paralysis. “Should I buy my own property? Should I invest in a syndication? In debt? I don’t know what to do!” 

Fear keeps us from taking action by getting stuck. That prevents us from scaling or diversifying our passive income, thinking adaptively or innovatively, or managing risk effectively. There’s a concept called “constant and never-ending improvement” that says we need to constantly grow and progress if we are to thrive. Fears tend to prevent our growth. Fear also prevents us from collaborating; when that happens, we lack the external feedback and communities necessary for better investment opportunities. 

So, how can we overcome these fears and act in our best interests? 

Overcoming Fear

Let’s go over a few tips for moving beyond fear using Stoic philosophy. You read that right; I’m talking about the ancient practice of stoicism.

First of all, what is stoicism? We have an idea of what it means to be stoic. It’s when somebody is poised, steadfast, and rocksteady in times of stress. You might imagine an action film, like Gladiator, where a character stands their ground despite everything raining down on them. Stoicism itself stems from ancient philosophy, the most famous Stoic being the Roman writer Seneca. But it’s still around today. The most famous modern-day Stoic is Ryan Holiday. 

In Holiday’s book, The Obstacle is the Way, he argues that our barriers, obstacles, and fears are actually the path to growth. As you wade through them, they build on top of each other, strengthening you to face life’s many challenges. But how can we directly confront our fears? Here is a step-by-step guide that aligns with Stoic thought.

1. Identify Your Fear: As I mentioned, before you can confront it, you need to name it. Whether it's the fear of financial loss or any of the fears we discussed today, write it down.
2. Visualize the Worst-Case Scenario: Allow yourself to fully imagine what the absolute worst outcome would look like. This isn't about dwelling in negativity, but about understanding the full scope of the potential challenge.
3. Plan Proactively: Now that you've visualized the worst, ask yourself this: “What can I do to prevent this from happening?” Create a list of steps or precautions you can take.
4. Accept What You Can't Control: Recognize that not everything is within your control. Focus your energy on what you can influence and accept the rest. This acceptance can be liberating.
5. Reframe Your Perspective: Instead of seeing challenges as threats, view them as opportunities for growth. Remember, every setback is a setup for a comeback.
6. Seek Feedback and Collaborate: Share your fears and plans with trusted colleagues or mentors. They might offer a fresh perspective or even share how they've overcome similar fears.
7. Take Action: Armed with your proactive plan, take the first step. Remember, action is the antidote to fear.

Take Proactive Action

Seneca famously wrote, “We suffer more in imagination than in reality.” By being intentional about overcoming your fears, you turn them from imaginary barriers into bridges on your journey to achieving your goals. In other words, overcoming fear is essential for financial success.  

When I made it my goal to take financial control of my life, I started looking for ways to overcome the fears getting in my way. That’s when I looked for people who had been able to overcome their own fears to learn from their wisdom. That education helped me take proactive action. 

Here at Passive Income MD, we create safe spaces to learn and talk about investing, entrepreneurship, and leveraging growth. Examples include our Passive Real Estate Academy and our Platinum Investor Club, both designed to take the fear out of investing and transform it into a team sport where you won’t be going alone. We need each other to do better. 

Come collaborate with us; we look forward to working with you! And we hope you visit us next week for Conquering Fear, Part 2. Until then, stay inspired and stay investing! 

Join our community at Passive Income Doc Facebook Group. And let us know in the comments below the freedoms you are excited to pursue. 

Further Reading

Peter Kim, MD is the founder of Passive Income MD, the creator of Passive Real Estate Academy, and offers weekly education through his Monday podcast, the Passive Income MD Podcast. Join our community at the Passive Income Doc Facebook Group.