Abandoning a goal because of fear is like staying inside during winter because you don’t want to put your coat on.

You would never think of venturing into sub-zero temperatures and windy conditions without properly protecting your exposed skin. Exposed skin freezes in a matter of minutes, and life can suck for a little while.

What do you to cover up and protect your mind and your goals when venturing into the frozen tundra of life? An idea shines it’s way into our hearts. We get excited for a little while, only to quickly recite all the reasons why we shouldn’t take action and move forward.

Most people feel like their current situation is far worse than it really is. Think of your perception of reality like a windchill effect. Windchill is how cold the temperature feels on exposed skin in the wind. Even though the thermometer may read 30 degrees, a stiff 20 mile per hour wind will make it feel much colder.

Stagnation happens when we fail to grow comfortable with the growth process and spend too much time in our heads. Taking some kind of action…any type of action shatters the shackles that hold you in place.

The way we feel about something is usually worse than it actually is. When we are faced with a decision, we often reach into our library of past failures or our “what if” worry bank.

Related: When Is the Last Time You Did Something for the First Time Here’s how you can protect yourself from abandoning your goals and buying into the fear:

Identify the best possible outcomes

While understanding possible risks is important, choose the words you wish to live with when talking about your goal. Identifying what life would be like when your goal becomes a reality offers you a moment to future-cast.

Prepare for others to talk you out of it.

It’s not that people don’t care for you or want you to succeed, they often place their reality onto your situation. How will you deal with it? Are these people qualified to assess your idea? How will you keep moving forward?

Here’s a short video I recorded for you.