Successful entrepreneurs balance pragmatism with a willingness to face the unknown and take calculated risks. Overcoming fears and embracing new things will help take your business to the next level and enrich your personal life.

If you’ve read any of Seth Godin’s books or his daily blog, you know he stresses repeatedly, if you want to produce something new and change anything, you have to start and you have to “ship,” in other words, create a product or service and then make it available…Despite the fact that the need to start and ship (the need to move forward in life) is obvious, most people don’t do it. Seth correctly says that the major reason is fear of failure.

Of the hundreds of women entrepreneurs I’ve coached over the years, I see many of them get “taken out” of succeeding in their business by a few simple basics. The consequences can range from disappointingly low sales to settling for mediocre results to even throwing in the towel of entrepreneurship…Luckily for me, every time that part of me tried to keep me down, inside was a small, still voice that kept whispering to me that fear and doubt are never truth.

Most of us would like to improve our level of confidence. But why? How does a low level of confidence affect us and what changes in our lives when we gain confidence? What is confidence anyway? Where does it come from? Why do some people have more of it than others? As someone who has helped literally thousands of people build more confidence, I think I am qualified to answer these questions. (By the way, I had very little self-confidence for most of my life but now I consistently experience a high level of confidence.)

What is the real source of our negative emotions? Why do so many things cause fear in our lives that aren’t inherently scary? And why do some people experience negative emotions while other people don’t in similar situations? A conditioning process occurs with anger and all the other emotions, except guilt, which is more directly tied to a threat to one’s survival than to powerlessness.

Are you haunted by unfinished creative projects or dreams? Make a list of the major ones. Are you still interested in pursuing one or more of them? Note which projects/pathways, if any, are still compelling to you. Creativity is about magnetism and commitment… One of the greatest blocks to creativity is fear. Fear keeps you from exploring your goals in depth and strategizing successful action steps to achieve them. Exercise: What Frightens You Most About Expressing Your Creativity?

We are not born with courage, but neither are we born with fear. Fears, even the most basic ones, can totally destroy our ambitions. Fear can destroy fortunes. Fear can destroy relationships.

Psychologists say, "If a child has not had a serious fall within the first year of life, they are being too closely guarded." That statement needs to be said for our adult lives as well. Have you had a serious fall in the past year? If not, is it because you're being too closely guarded? Are you too cautious? Too safe? Too practical? Too boring?

One of the biggest barriers that all people have to overcome on their journey of success is fear. Fear of failure. Fear of rejection. Fear of change. Fear of responsibility and commitment. And the big one – Fear of success.

Did you know that public speaking is the number one fear in America? Surveys show that people fear public speaking more than anything else -- even more than they fear death! When asked why they fear public speaking, most people say that they fear humiliation, embarrassment or judgment from others. In a nutshell, they fear rejection. Why is the fear of humiliation and embarrassment so strong?