I grew up on a farm way out in the country, and outside our little farm community, I was Amish-level shy. ‘Afraid of outsiders’, is I guess how I’d describe this fear. The way I faced it was by participating in everything I could. Speech contests, spelling bees, band, student elections, sports, drama club, etc. etc. These activities liberated me to be someone other than a shy farm kid. I had to be. Competition (with oneself or as part of a team) invites what Viola Spolin called ‘extension.’ I still puked before a lot of basketball games (it was Indiana after all), but I did take the court and play my role to the hilt, and my love of the game has paid off countless times since, in terms of moving beyond that fear and that shyness.

A Disney animator named Woolie Reitherman taught me about exploring new territory. Among his many exploits, Woolie was a surfer. He once told me that in order to understand a wave, you have to first ‘give yourself over’ to the wave. Getting tossed around by a wave, thrown ass over teakettle, it’s all part of learning how to surf the wave. This is the single best piece of advice I’ve ever gotten about facing one’s fears. Let (and expect) the thing that scares you toss you around a few times, maybe even scrape you up little, before you try to surf it.

In business, this means that any new venture or environment will give you grief before you learn how to navigate it. If it doesn’t, you don’t really understand what you’ve gotten yourself into.

How have you leaned into your own fears in your career(s) and life?