Fear, anxiety and worry have always had a bad reputation. Millions of people take drugs to reduce them and many consider them a step towards mental illness.
But like all human traits, they fall on a spectrum. And while at high levels they can be crippling, in modest amounts they can have surprising advantages. Especially for someone building a new business.
Steve Jobs, for example, was often called a “neurotic genius,” yet he was an enormously successful entrepreneur.
But we don’t like to acknowledge personality traits like fear and anxiety, even to ourselves. Even the name given to these aspects of our personality sounds bad—neuroticism—while all the others sound much better. We’re happy to be seen as reliable and organized, for example, or friendly and compassionate. Or curious, adventurous, and imaginative. And we all like the idea of thriving in social situations as some sort of extrovert.
But only admitting to traits that seem pleasant can prevent us from fully understanding who we really are. And while heightened threat sensitivity can make us feel anxious in situations that are actually harmless, it can also be an incredibly powerful tool, giving us more empathy, for example, and greater awareness of our own emotions.
Fear, of course, is an emotion that aims to help all living things stay alive by drawing their attention to dangers. Any animal that fails to notice the silent footsteps of a lion, for example, or its silent, watchful eyes, will soon become another animal’s prey.
But it is not just the awareness of threats that leads to survival, but also the way the creature responds to them. Because an animal that runs away noisily from any potential threat would not only be wasting time and energy, but could even be attracting the attention of predators.
The same applies to humans, not only in terms of our survival, but also our success in life. Because in the business world, a successful entrepreneur with an optimal level of neuroticism not only recognizes the threats facing his start-up, but addresses them by creating solutions appropriate to the real risk the business is running.
People with optimal levels of anxiety also cope well in urban life. They have energy and relish opportunities and make the most of them. But they are also always aware of the situation, whether they are in New York, London or Nairobi, and are quick to spot and avoid potential scammers, muggers and pickpockets.
While fear can be unpleasant, it is also an important tool for success. So make it your friend. It will help you recognize and avoid potential problems.
Entrepreneurs who don’t listen to their fears can easily take the wrong path. Successful entrepreneurs may often seem a little crazy to their friends. But they thrive because they see the risks that others don’t and skillfully chart a path to overcome them and achieve success.
