Sometimes we are hit with that burst of inspiration, and we are suddenly running a mile a minute with the ideas that are coming to us. We have a new business plan or a new direction for our life or a new hobby we want to take up. For those of you that have been following along for a while, you know I am ALWAYS FULL OF IDEAS, so this whole thing is very much coming from personal experience.

The challenge is almost always following through. Right? We get swept up with something new for a little while, but then we sort of talk ourselves out of it, and leave it by the wayside. And most of the time that we ditch it, it’s still a really good idea! Right? We’re not giving up because the idea is inherently bad. We give up for a million other small reasons (or sometimes just one big reason: fear).

So this post is all about how to give yourself the confidence to take it further.

The first thing: imagine the most possibly amazing way this could turn out. Seriously. Like the sky is the limit absolutely most insane way this could go. Your new hobby making earrings becomes a multi million dollar business. Tiffany approaches you to buy your business out. You sell, but are now the creative director for the brand. At an event you meet Leo, and now you’re married. Everything is amazing.

The second thing: imagine the worst possible way this could turn out. Seriously it all blows up in your face. What’s the worst it could go? Maybe it’s you quit your full-time job to make this happen, and it doesn’t work out. You for some reason invested thousands of dollars into your floundering earring business, so now you’re heavily in debt and unemployed. You can’t pay rent, so you’re homeless. Leo passes you in the street and doesn’t even acknowledge you. Everything is terrible.

Here’s the thing. Our brain ALWAYS goes to the terrible scenario. But that and the amazing scenario basically both won’t happen. So calm your brain down with the nonsense. Let’s look at more realistic scenarios.

Take three: imagine things if they sort of don’t work out. You start a side business making earrings. You make some decent money, but it takes up a lot of time, so you decide to go for it full time. You stick it out for six months, but it never takes off the way you were hoping. You decide to go find a regular job again, and even though you’re going back to HR, you are working at an interesting company thanks to some of the connections you made through your business.

Take four: imagine things if they sort of do work out. You decide to go full time with your earring business, and things go well. When there are dips in sales, you do some research and redirect your efforts into getting into stores, where things pick up again. At the next dip in business, you create a workshop on entrepreneurship, and things pick up again. You’re not rolling in cash, but you’re able to comfortably support yourself while working on your ideal schedule.

Both of those are way more likely, right? Nothing terrible happens. Worst case scenario is you go back to a normal job. People go to new normal jobs all the time. The thing that keeps us from doing that is the fear that we will tell people we have our own business and then we will have to tell them later it didn’t work out, but what a silly thing to be afraid of. First of all, they probably don’t really care. Second of all, don’t let a fear of what someone else might think of you keep you from doing a thing you love! Your happiness is the most important!

Plus, most importantly, I believe in you. Whatever you want to do, I think you’ve got this!!! Don’t let that voice in your head spiral you out of control into all the terrible ways things can go. They will go well. And you can do it.