Fear Is a Story. You’re the Author.

Fear, Faith, and the First Step

I was talking with a friend of mine—he’s run a creative agency in California for almost a decade. We both admitted something we rarely say out loud: sometimes the hardest part of building something isn’t the work itself. It’s doing the next right thing when you’re afraid.

Fear is a hell of a thing.It strangles. It suffocates. It lies. It misleads. It obscures.

Starting a small business has made me reckon with just how many shapes fear can take. Fear of failing. Fear of succeeding. Fear of being wrong. Fear of being right. Fear of being judged. Fear of being seen. A thousand quiet whispers that show up uninvited and try to run the show.

But here's the thing: fear isn’t just an idea. It’s chemical. It lives in the body. Your stomach drops. Your senses sharpen. Adrenaline and cortisol flood your system, urging you to find a threat—even if the only threat is a new idea.

And your brain, clever thing that it is, writes a story to match the signal: "You're not ready.”“You’ll embarrass yourself.”“You don’t belong here.”

But we are the authors. We get to decide what fear means. We get to decide what happens next.

Fear can follow, but choose to lead with light.

A Jewish friend once told me that in Judaism, human action—and our relationship with God—is often framed through two forces: ahavah (love) and yirah (fear). Both are powerful. Both can shape your path. But only one moves you forward.

For me, the antidote to fear isn’t bravado. It’s faith. And by faith, I don’t mean blind optimism. I mean a deep belief in compassion, clear thinking, and right action. I mean choosing to keep going even when the fear fog rolls in.

Sometimes, you have to get passionate about your fear. Move toward it, then through it, then past it. Sometimes you have to trick your body into bravery. Shout “woo hoo” when your chest tightens. Treat anxiety like excitement wearing the wrong name tag.

Because chemically, they’re almost the same. And maybe that’s the secret: we don’t conquer fear by killing it. We conquer it by choosing what it means.

I"m fairly sure I won't be able to pull this online vision off, but I have enough excitement to move towards it anyway.