One of the most common things that keep us from reaching our potential is fear.

You’ve probably heard this before: “In order to break out and achieve success, you must get out of your comfort zone and do things that make you uncomfortable”.

Do the things to succeed that others are not willing to do.

This might mean that you have to make a cold sales call or appear on a video. You might not want to do these things because of fear.

Fear of rejection, fear of embarrassment or fear of ridicule.

Statistics have shown that some people fear public speaking even more than death!

It’s no doubt that fear is a strong emotion. You want to be able to overcome it so you can succeed, but how do you do it?

I’ve been reading a terrific book titled The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson. I highly recommend it for anybody to read , especially entrepreneurs.

In the book, he relates how he personally was able to overcome his fear of making sales calls.

His answer came in the form of an article he read about, of all things, funerals. It said at the average funeral only ten people cry for the deceased.

You can go through your whole life with all its trials, victories and defeats and only ten people will be moved enough to shed a tear for you.

But, it gets even worse.

Do you know the number one factor that determines whether people will go to the burial at the cemetery once the service is over?

Are you ready for this?

It’s the weather. Too hot, too cold, too rainy—all make a difference as to how many people show up for your final bow.

Everything you went through in life, everything you stood for, all your dearly held principles don’t mean a whole lot if it’s threatening to rain.

Olson was initially depressed with this thought, but then he realized it was actually liberating. He realized that he didn’t have to care at all about what anyone thought of him.

If the odds were so poor that they’ll even cry at his funeral or show up , why worry about what they think?

Why be afraid of rejection, embarrassment or ridicule?

He took encouragement from this article and used it to his advantage; and we all should, too.

Go out and do whatever you need to do to be successful and don’t worry about what anyone else thinks. In the end it doesn’t make any difference anyway.