Just like the successful self-help book written by Susan Jeffers, feeling the fear and doing it anyway is one of the secrets to achieving success in business. In fact, it is one of the key secrets to succeeding in almost anything you ever want to do in Life.

In case you werent aware of it, you a salesperson. Before you deny this fact till you are blue in the face, let me explain. You are a salesperson if you:
* Promote your own business to others
* Promote the business you work for to others
* Promote yourself to others

Everybody, at any point in time, fits into one of these categories. You are either drumming up sales for your business or one you work for through direct sales or convincing others that the company you work for is a good company. Or you are convincing others about a point of view you might have toward a subject. So, everyday we are all trying to persuade another human in one area of our lives or another.

What does this have to do with fear?

Lets take the act of persuading somebody to make a purchase from you or your company. This can also include trying to get them to agree to a meeting where you have the opportunity to show a new product to them. For the experts those of us that do this everyday this may seem like a walk in the park. But for the rest of us, this can be very intimidating, especially if you are new to the job.

So how do you cope with these feelings? To put it simply, feel the fear, and do it anyway.

It is important to acknowledge the Fear as being real. It is unwise to try and pretend that the feelings are not there, because they are. You know it when your stomach does back flips or your palms start sweating. Instead of trying to convince yourself that those feelings dont exist, accept that you are having them, and this is the reason why.

*** The moment you face Fear head on, you destroy the power it has over you ***

Your first step in this process is to acknowledge your feelings as being real, BUT not having control over you.

Often our brains tendency to fabricate what the other person (client, prospect, friend, etc) will say or do when you present your ideas to them comes next. Will they reject you and slam the door in your face, or slam the phone down in your ear? Will they think that you are wasting their time, and that they wished you had never contacted them?

Truthfully, you might get some people who may think that way, but the reality is, most people are so concerned about what is happening to them and how people think about them, that thoughts about what they will say to you dont enter their minds.

So, instead of giving your brain time to imagine and dwell on these fantasies, raising the level of fear in your mind even more, get moving. And here is the second secret to feeling the fear and doing it anyway.

*** Action destroys the energy of fear, and motivates you into a definite outcome ***

You may have heard the acronym for Fear? FEAR = False Events Appearing Real. The first time I heard that I was listening to a CD by Anthony Robbins. False events = fantasies, or your imagination.

By stepping up and taking action, everything you do begins to destroy these false images, as your actual reality is vastly different to your imagined one. You will find that your offer to help that company, provide them a new product, or to help show your friends a better way of completing a task, will be received with an open mind. Now this does not guarantee the result you want, but it will guarantee a result. They will either accept your offer, want more information, or decline it.

Lets look at these results for a second.

* If they accept, then you have achieved your outcome.
* If they want more information, then you can still achieve your outcome.
* If they decline, then you can move on to the next person to achieve your outcome.

99% of the time they will be respectful and courteous to you, even if they really dont want to hear what you have to say. Not mater what the results though, the imagined events in your head (the Fear), is always ten times worse than the actual events. Now that can be guaranteed.

So next time you start getting nervous about anything you want to ask of someone, be it a sale, a favor or a date, remember this destroy the fear by taking action. Acknowledge your feelings and decide to change them, not ignore them. One more thing - the people you are talking to have exactly the same fears, and when you truly understand that, then you will know that your actions will help to eradicate their False Events too!