We’ve all felt it, so why not put it to good use? Read about how to turn fear into your greatest tool.

If you’re not scared, you’re doing it wrong. 

When presented with the option to “fight or flight”, always fight. Fear shouldn’t be a signal for your brain to retreat; in fact, it should be a great motivator. If your energy is directed in the right way, the fear of not achieving goals or falling short of a vision can actually get you moving. Here are some surefire pointers to help you prepare yourself when fear will inevitably appear in your career journey.

Take a good, hard look at your goal. 

Whether you like to write out your goals in a notebook or type them out as your phone background, we all have different ways of keeping ourselves focused on our goals. Internalized fear can be a huge determinant in your success, and it’s important to acknowledge it and assess. Is the end result worth the work of overcoming your fear? What will it cost you if you don’t overcome the fear? Thinking forward towards your goal and determining just how vital it is for you can be the deciding factor on whether you want to push through the fear or not.

Adopt a growth mindset. 

If you feel that your goal is unattainable, then it may be worthwhile to ponder on the excuses you may make to give in to your fear. Often, the circumstances don’t determine your fate, rather your mindset does. Carol Dweck, professor, researcher, and writer of Mindset, suggests that the most successful people among us foster a growth mindset. Put simply, rather than seeing their abilities as a fixed set of skills, they see their abilities as flexible and susceptible to change. Setbacks and fear met with a growth mindset translates to adopting a new strategy, continuing to seek a solution, and trying harder. So, adopt a growth mindset to turn that moment of fear into action.

Check out these talks for a more in-depth understanding of Carol Dweck’s growth mindset: TED Talk, Interview with Khan Academy.

Failure is inevitable, so take a step back and allow the tribulations to bring valuable insights. 

Understanding that failure is and always will be part of the process is half the battle. Successful people accept failure and capitalize on it for success. J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter was rejected by 12 major publishers before getting picked up by a small publishing house. Steve Jobs was ousted from his own company in the early days of Apple, returning years later, only after acknowledging the much needed change in his leadership. Stephen King put all his rejection letters from publishers on a nail on his wall. “By the time I was fourteen the nail in my wall would no longer support the weight of the rejection slips impaled upon it. I replaced the nail with a spike and went on writing,” he says.

Pushing through the discomfort doesn’t default to achieving your goals. Take your fear as a motivator and your failures as a teacher. It almost becomes irrelevant whether you end up succeeding. The experience itself can shape and adjust your strategy into a non-replicable advantage that is tailored to you.

Accommodate your fears and acknowledge your progress. 

At the end of the day, fear is still an unnerving feeling, so give yourself some credit! Be willing to push yourself, but do it kindly. When you’re in the thick of pursuing a goal, success may not always feel present, however, acknowledging your progress can provide a much needed confidence boost. You don’t have to fully jump into something to conquer a fear, dip your toes in and get comfortable with being uncomfortable. Read about how Celinne conquered her fears one day at a time and turned it into her new life.

Start realizing that failure is part of the journey and welcome it! Each failure contributes to the overall success. So, instead of letting the inevitable feeling of fear guide your actions, embrace it and take charge of it. You decide where fear can take you.