Are you ever afraid? Worried?

Do you spend more of your time worrying about what could go wrong at work and in your life than you do planning what can go right?

More time than enjoying success?

I have and often I still do.

Yet I've come to realize that being afraid has held me back far more than it should have.

I'm writing today to try to save you from my mistakes.

We imagine risks worse than they are.

But what can we do about it?

Two things:

1. Make yourself consciously aware of your fear and worry problems. Acknowledge that you have a tendency to see the dark sides and let them hold you back. Simply recognizing the problem will help you fight it.

2. Get specific. Write down your worst-case scenario and figure out how you would get through it. Odds are you can make contingency plans. Knowing that even the worst case is something you can handle may allow you to take those key risks.

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Community member event: On Feb 19 (Mon), Kristi Coulter and I will discuss her new book "Exit Interview: The Life and Death of My Ambitious Career". Kristi was "Stuck at Senior Manager" for 12 years at Amazon. Her book, Exit Interview, tells her story.

​Kristi had big jobs and accomplished amazing things, including shipping new products, launching a whole new book imprint for Amazon, and more. Yet reorganizations, VPs with unreasonable standards, and other factors she can explain mean that she was never fully recognized or promoted.

​If you feel stuck in your career, this talk is a must:

1. ​Hear how and why Kristi ultimately moved on rather than keep chasing a promotion that was not coming.

2. ​Hear my contrasting story, of how I was promoted, and our discussion of what might or might not have been possible in Kristi's case to change the outcome.

Live attendance and video recording is exclusive to paid newsletter subscribers, join us and register now.

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Three questions to ask yourself:

• “What’s the worst that can happen?”