I was having a conversation with a friend of mine the other day about launching a new business venture. Throughout our talk, I could sense in his voice the excitement and passion he had for the idea; about how it was going to make a positive impact on people’s lives, and so on – it was great! His only hesitation was about his potential co-founder and his growing concern as to whether that person was the right fit and, whether that person was even needed at all?
As we continued our discussion, I asked why there was reluctance about starting the venture on his own, seeing how things went, and then deciding as to whether adding someone to the team later would make sense. And there it was… the response heard all to often – “Well, I’m not sure if I…” After hearing him out, I asked him one simple question – “do you know what the surest bet you’ll ever make is? It’s YOU!” That’s right – betting on yourself is the surest bet you’ll ever make! Think about it. Would you do something to intentionally harm yourself? Is there anyone in this world that you instinctively trust more? Will anyone be harder on you than you? Of course not! Granted, you may not have some skills or experience that may be required but the first step is to make the decision to push forward. Do you think Karl Benz knew how to build a car back in 1886 or do you think he just made up his mind and started the process? Remember, it’s not always about what you know but rather, where to go for the information when you need it!
Okay – back on topic… Unfortunately, behaviors like fear and hesitation tend to have tremendous leverage over our decisions and, in many cases, we sabotage ourselves before we even get started. It’s very easy to find the negative in something… in fact, we’ve been trained to think like this from our childhood – but it’s not as easy to find the positive. Try it… the next time someone presents you with something challenging, list the number of negatives and positives – which list do you think will be longer? By focusing on negative thoughts like why this isn’t possible… this won’t work because… I’m not sure if I can… – you’re only holding yourself back from achieving something that you may not have known to be possible!
Remember… when in doubt, sometimes you need to have more guts then brains and realize that there ain’t nothin to it, but to do it! Make it rain!
Vikas' Blog 
Your article reminded me of a wise manager i knew who brought to life the concept of “awefullizing” He made the excellent point that when you start with a negative thought, it is often one you have no data to support – based on fear or insecurity over fact. Once you start there it is common to speculate, and build on the negative premise. Using a large company concern as an example, it starts with “I think they’re going to start layoffs in the company.” That quickly escalates to “Our whole division is at risk” etc. etc.
Recognizing when you are awefullizing is liberating because when you catch yourself doing it you can ask a critical question “what facts do I have to support this?” If you’re awefullizing you will be short on hard data and high on insecurity and gut.
Once you recognize when you are awefullizing, you can quickly examine it and, in most cases, let it go. You’ll find that the majority of the time when something does happen (if it does), it is rarely as bad as initially imagined. And most importantly, it’s focus has little to do with you.