The following is a snippet of ESX 2023’s Keynote Speaker, Jon Acuff’s book, “Start: Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average, and Do Work That Matters”. More details about the author can be found by scrolling to the bottom.

Do you dream of escaping the average? Do you want to become awesome and exceptional, but don’t know where to start? 

Here’s a tip: If you want to become awesome, you have to punch fear in the face. 

Fear can alienate you from your dreams. It goes without saying that you shouldn’t let it, but to beat fear, you have to understand how it works. Fear prevents you from chasing your dreams by convincing you that they’re impractical or unattainable. 

But don’t buy into that kind of defeatist thinking. Instead, write down your fears and then exaggerate them ridiculously, to show yourself how silly those fears actually are. 

For example, if you’re afraid that starting a new project will cause you to lose your job and stay unemployed, write that down. And then let yourself go farther. Imagine you’ll end up on the street with a scraggly beard, sleeping on top of garbage bags and talking to stray cats. 

Does that seem likely? Probably not, which is why you need to write it down. That way you can see how illogical your fears really are, and thus prevent them from controlling you. 

Luckily, there’s one more effective way to deal with fear’s mind games: Just start doing whatever you’re scared of. 

You have no control over the eventual result, but that won’t ever change. You’ll never know how things will end up, but at least you can control the outset. If you want to do something, do it! 

For example, consider the Segway. When it was first introduced, people thought it might spark a transportation revolution. And yet, since its launch the Segway hasn’t been such a great success. 

Still, the Segway people deserve respect. They risked failure and pursued their awesome dream of developing weird, two-wheeled electric transporters.

A New York Times Bestselling Author and one of INC’s Top 100 Leadership Speakers, Jon Acuff will take the ESX Main Stage to motivate and inspire. Whether you are driving change, chasing new goals, or re-motivating a team, this ESX Main Stage session will bring the kind of energy and inspiration that sparks your team to action. Join us at ESX 2023 to hear him speak! www.esxweb.com/register