Happy New Year! I am thrilled to be entering year two of producing Reflect Forward. I am excited for what the new year will bring, even though I understand there are still many challenges ahead. I am confident that life will throw us some curveballs. But we humans are afraid of curveballs, and we don’t like change or surprises. We fear the unknown, and that’s what this week’s episode of Reflect Forward: Advice Form a CEO is all about: fear. And I am encouraging you to make fear your friend in 2022.

Even though many great things will happen in 2022, there will be challenges that may cause fear. I would argue that fear isn’t a bad thing – we all have it. There’s no doubt that fear can be a pretty nasty companion, and it can make us feel anxious and self-doubt. What we do with that fear either propels us forward or holds us back.

This new year, I would like to encourage you to make fear your friend. Stop saying, “I’m trying to get rid of my fears or overcome my fears.” Instead, embrace your fears and make fear your friend. Why? Because there’s always something that will scare you. Always! Being scared means that you’re about to do something significant and meaningful in your life. Stepping into the discomfort and making fear your friend will help you act and move towards what you want in life. Making fear your friend is how you change your life forever.

I know because I’ve done it a million times. Most notably, I embraced my biggest fears when I left Austin. I was a complete mess, and I was scared. Would I find a job in Durango? How would I start my life over? How would I survive? But I knew that I needed to leave Austin, and that’s what I did. I followed my heart, and my life changed. I took that step into the unknown. I embraced my fear and created a whole new life for myself.

Today, I would like to share my tips for embracing fear and your insecurities in the hopes that it will inspire you to step into that discomfort and move towards what you’ve been wanting.

Ask yourself:

“Where are my fears coming from?”

“What’s the worse thing that could happen?

“What’s the best thing that could happen?

“What can I do to get more comfortable with my fear?”

“What’s one action I can take today to help me move forward?

The only way to get good at doing hard things is to do hard things. You can do hard things, too. As you push yourself, you’ll expand your competency zone, gain more confidence, lose that baggage and make fear your friend.

Question of the Episode

The question of the week comes from a LinkedIn follower who asked, “how do you define leadership??

To me, leadership means many things, but most importantly, it means investing in people. I believe deeply in helping people understand how their talents fit into the organization and giving them opportunities to try new things, develop new skills, and grow personally and professionally. Once you have the right people on your team, you must make sure they are in the right roles, aligning their talents with their job. There is nothing more important than building an exceptional team made up of extraordinary people. You won’t get far without great people and great teams. I spend a lot of my time developing and investing in my team. In fact, my team calls me the “Human Engineer” because of the emphasis we put on developing people and making sure they are in the right roles.

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