You sit at your desk. The big task glares at you. Your inbox hums. You open a draft, then close it. You tidy your desktop. You make tea. You feel busy. The thing that matters gets no time.

Fear looks a lot like busywork. It keeps you safe from awkward starts. It keeps you from risk. It also steals months. The trick is not to banish fear. You can’t. The trick is to act while fear sits in the passenger seat.

Here’s a short snapshot of the problem:
• You avoid the hard step and fill the day with small tasks.
• You rewrite instead of rehearse.
• You wait for perfect conditions that never arrive.

Now meet Mark. His story shows a path you can copy.

Mark’s three-act arc: from stall to ship
Mark worked on a product at a mid-size company. He had an idea that could cut user churn. He sketched the concept, then froze. He feared the board would dismiss him. He feared the slide deck would show every rough edge. So, he rewrote the slides, tweaked the graphs, and filed the versions. Weeks passed. The project stalled, the code sat idle, and the team lost momentum.

The pressure grew. His manager asked for a timeline. Mark promised a board pitch. Then he cancelled twice. Each cancellation fed guilt. His confidence shrank. He nearly handed the idea to someone else. The project risked dying from a better-than-nothing draft.

Mark tried a different move. He picked one small test. He booked ten minutes with two friendly colleagues on Friday. He set a 25-minute timer and practised one slide only. He rehearsed out loud, recorded his voice, listened, then adjusted one point. On Friday, he presented the slide. The feedback was blunt, but valuable. One colleague asked one question that revealed a missing data point. Mark fixed that in an hour. He repeated the mini-presentation to a slightly larger group. Each small test reduced his fear. He learned what worked and what did not.

Three weeks later, he pitched to the board. Not perfect, but clear and focused. The board approved a pilot. The team shipped the feature. People thanked him for moving it forward. Mark still felt nervous. He still got butterflies. The difference was this: fear rode along, but Mark drove.

Action toolkit you can use today.

1. Name the fear. Write one sentence. “I fear being judged for a half-formed idea.” Naming makes it concrete.
   
   
2. Pick one micro-step. Small is the point. Draft one bullet, record one minute, send one email. Aim for movement, not perfection.
   
   
3. Use a short timer. Set 25 minutes. Work on only that micro-step. Turn notifications off. Finish the block and stop.
   
   
4. Test in low stakes. Present to one peer. Share a draft with a friendly reader. Small exposures teach you faster than endless polishing.
   
   
5. Ask one person to check in. A quick message, a calendar note, or a five-minute call will create helpful pressure.
   
   
6. Keep a short log. Note what you did and one thing you learned. Progress looks tiny until you add it up.
   
   

A micro-challenge you can do now (five minutes)
Write one sentence that names your fear. Then write one tiny step you can take in the next 24 hours. Put both into your calendar. Hit start on a 25-minute timer and do the tiny step.

Three common objections and short replies
“I don’t have time.” Block 25 minutes tomorrow. You can give that much time. You will get more clarity from half an hour than from two days of avoiding.
“What if the test fails?” Treat failure as feedback. The test tells you exactly what to change. That is progress.
“I hate being judged.” Pick a trusted person for your first test. The point is safe feedback, not a roast.

A seven-day starter plan
Day 1: Name one fear. Pick one micro-step. Schedule it.
Day 2: Do the 25-minute block. Log one insight.
Day 3: Share the micro-step with one person. Ask for a check-in.
Day 4: Run a mini-test for two colleagues. Collect feedback.
Day 5: Fix one tiny thing from feedback. Celebrate the edit.
Day 6: Repeat a 25-minute block. Add one new micro-step.
Day 7: Present your little progress to someone who asked about it. Note how it felt.

Small moves beat big procrastination. They build proof. Proof beats fear. You do not need courage in a bottle. You need a pattern that nudges you forward.

If you want more structured plans and short exercises, I send them every week in a newsletter. Subscribers also get a free copy of Overcoming Procrastination. No hard sell, just extra tools you can try.

One last question: what will six months look like if you start with one tiny step today? Imagine the project half-done, the lesson learned, the momentum growing. Fear will still be there. That is fine. You’ll have control of the wheel.

Go on, pick your one micro-step and do it. Fear can ride. It doesn’t get to drive.