I remember the first time I sat behind the wheel of my car.

My hands were trembling with fear, and my mind was bothered by only one thought: “I have no idea how to do this. What if I crash?”

And honestly, it was a valid thought because I didn’t have the skill of driving yet.

My brother was on the passenger seat, guiding me through the first step:

Press down the clutch.
Put the car in the first gear.
Slowly lift off the clutch.
Press the accelerator a bit.

And…the car jolted to a halt. I stalled. I hit my first failure. My fear had just proven true. In that moment, I could have caved in and said, “Oh no. I can’t do this. My mind is right. I don’t have the skill.”

But that’s not what I did.

Instead, I just said to myself, “It’s okay. We’re still learning.”

I took a deep breath and tried once again, only to stall again. This cycle repeated a lot, but I’ll save you the story because now I can drive through mountains, bumper-to-bumper traffic, or empty highways without a second thought.

I can wonder about the world, listen to my favorite songs, and have a conversation, all while my hands are firm on the wheel and my eyes are locked on the road. Now, it has become as easy as eating food or drinking water.

You’re probably thinking now that this is going into a moral lesson on why fear is an unnecessary evil that stops your progress. So all you need to do is learn how to overcome it, and you’re set for life.

But, unfortunately (or rather fortunately), you’d be wrong. That’s not where we are going.

I’m not going to tell you to avoid, conquer, or vanquish your fears.

Because now that I look back at the time I learned driving (or, in fact, anything new that made my life better), I realize fear wasn’t actually the enemy. It was a friend who helped me improve.

Without fear, I never would have learned to drive, write, speak, excel in school, or any of the basic life skills that help me survive today. Since you are a human too, chances are fear has helped you in more ways than you recognize, and it’s time to be grateful for that. Why? Well…

Fear is Important.

It teaches us to be humble. When we’re flying too high in the sky, it gently pulls us back and says, “Wait a minute. You may not be as good as you think. Touch some grass and drink some water.”

And although we are quick to hate that reality check and label it as unnecessary panic or anxiety, the truth is that it is right.

I’m not the one saying this. Science is.

Almost all of us experience the Dunning-Kruger effect on a psychological level. The name may sound big, but in essence, this is what it means: “Human beings are naturally more inclined to overestimate their abilities even when they have low competence.”

In everyday life, this takes many forms:

• Saying yes to a project even when you know you can’t complete it.
• Watching a match on TV, and criticizing the player for their choice, knowing that you can’t play as well as they can.
• Assuming that your mistakes are genuine, while other people’s mistakes are rooted in malicious intentions.
• Thinking you can do everything just because you made up your mind.

And the problem is, it leads us straight to the crash.

If I had said, “Oh, I know how to drive. I’ve seen other people do it all these years. I can never make the mistake of overspeeding or crashing,” I would have headed straight for the road, but without the skill or competence to control the vehicle. And guess what would have happened?

Of course, a crash! The very thing I believed wouldn’t happen.

The only way to avoid that crash was to acknowledge the fear, accept it, and understand the truth it’s pointing out: “You are not competent enough yet. So don’t take the risk.”

And if you think about it, that’s actually a good thing!

So even though you believe fear is bad, please take a moment today to think of all the times it brought you down to ground and literally saved your life.

And the next time you’re doing something new, feel grateful when your heart beats faster, beads of sweat roll down your forehead, and your mind thinks, “Oh my god, I can’t do this.”

Because it’s not fear paralyzing you; it’s just showing you the reality. And once you see it for what it is, you stop being scared and ask yourself, “Ok. Yeah, I know. I can’t do this. So what can I do to learn and get better?”

That’s when fear fulfills its purpose, you become better as a person, and instead of just flying high in the sky, you build a foundation that takes you there.

After all, we don’t just want to get to the top, we want to stay there. And fear is a friend who makes that happen.

So, let’s take a moment to say, “Thank you!” because without fear, you wouldn’t be here 🙂