Fear & Entrepreneurship

Fundamentals of Growing Fearless – Part 6

May 05, 2025

Entrepreneurship means different things to every person I talk to. Most think of entrepreneurship as starting a new business and taking risks.

As you will see, I disagree.

If I start a new business, I will take myself out of my comfort zone, actively accept risks, and embrace change.
I will have to deal with new situations and experiences that will create failures.
The drive that fuels my intention to succeed will help me analyze those failures and identify fears and insecurities to transform them into space for growth.
— Fear Enough, Deconstructing Fear and Understanding Failure.

Entrepreneurship, as a process or a practice, is a catalyst. It brings a constant stream of unfamiliar situations into your life, usually outside your comfort zone.

I think of entrepreneurship as an attitude.
A defiant one.
Curious for discovery.
Driven by expansion.

To me, it goes far beyond business. The word itself was first used to describe someone determined to undertake a challenge, to bring something new into the world, regardless of risk, unknowns, or results.

I see that spirit in a new mother, a cook, a gardener, an athlete. Anyone willing to challenge the status quo.

You may say you are not a risk-taker or an entrepreneur, but I dare to disagree. Why? Because being a human implies risk, we are mortal, after all.

If you agree with me, then you might see entrepreneurship as a way to invite change, and with that, confront fear.

An experienced entrepreneur is often seen as fearless, or at least someone who’s learned to befriend discomfort. They seem confident. Brave.

But what you’re seeing isn’t perfection. It’s practice, persistence, and resilience.

If entrepreneurship is about challenging the way things are, then how would you describe someone non-entrepreneurial?

I don’t think that person exists.

Don’t believe anyone who tells you that you’re not entrepreneurial.
Even if you don’t like the word, you still see how the world changes around you, and you get to choose how to respond, how to get involved.

Humans adapt. That’s what we do.

And when we do it deliberately, when we willingly engage with change and take risks, we’re not just adapting — we’re growing. We’re actively participating in our own evolution.

So maybe entrepreneurship is a natural drive to engage with change, not just to accept it, but to provoke it.

A willingness to care, to shape, to take risks.
It doesn’t require a business plan or a pitch deck.
It requires presence, intention, and the courage to expose ourselves to uncertainty.

Entrepreneurship and fear exist in symbiosis.
The more we dare, the more fear we meet.
But in that tension, growth becomes possible.