Fear and anxiety can be what propel your business to success

Fear, anxiety and worry have always had a bad reputation. Millions of people take medication to reduce them, and many think of them as a step towards mental illness.

But, just like all human characteristics, they lie on a spectrum. And while at high levels they can be disabling, modest amounts can have surprising advantages. Especially for someone who’s building a new business.

Steve Jobs for example was often called a ‘neurotic genius,’ and yet he was a hugely successful entrepreneur.

But we don’t like owning up to personality traits like fear and anxiety, even to ourselves. Even the name given to these aspects of our personalities sounds bad - neuroticism - while all the others sound so much nicer! We’re happy to be thought reliable and organised, 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 the traits that sound nice can stop you from fully understanding who you really are. And while a heightened sensitivity to threats can lead to you feeling anxious in what are actually harmless situations, it can also be an incredibly powerful tool. Giving you more empathy, for example, and a greater awareness of your own emotions.

Fear, of course, is an emotion that’s intended to help all living creatures stay alive, by drawing their attention to dangers. Any animal who fails to notice the quiet pad of a lion’s paws, for example, or silent, watchful eyes, is soon going to be another animal’s dinner.

But it’s not just an awareness of threats that leads to survival, it’s how the creature responds to them. Because an animal that noisily flees from every potential threat wouldn’t only be wasting time and energy. They could actually 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 world of business, a successful entrepreneur with an optimum level of neuroticism not only recognises the threats to their start-up, but then deals with them by creating solutions that are appropriate to the actual risk to the business.

People with an optimum level of anxiety also do well in urban life. They’re energised and enjoy the opportunities. And make full use of them. But they’re also always situationally aware, whether they’re in New York, London, or Nairobi, and quickly spot and avoid the potential con merchants, muggers and pickpockets.

So while fear can feel unpleasant, it’s also an important tool for success. So make it your friend. Then it will help you to recognise and avoid potential problems.

While entrepreneurs who don’t listen to their fears can easily go down the wrong track. Successful entrepreneurs can often appear just a bit crazy to their friends. But they flourish because they see the risks that others can’t, and skillfully plot a path through them to success.