Do It Scared
Take the worthwhile action without waiting for fear to disappear
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Time to result
- ~days to results
- Steps
- 5
- Confidence
- 98%
Do It Scared is a decision rule for acting without making confidence a prerequisite. First name the concrete action being delayed and the feared response, such as criticism from family, former classmates, a boss, or an online audience. Then distinguish emotional discomfort from a material safety, legal, financial, or ethical hazard. If the action remains worthwhile and acceptably safe, reduce it to the next executable move and complete that move while fear is still present. The mechanism breaks the false sequence in which fear must disappear before action can begin. Action produces real feedback and evidence, while waiting produces neither. Saunders applied the rule broadly to starting a business, asking for a pay rise, speaking to a boss, and creating a first TikTok. It is a courage rule, not permission to ignore genuine risk.
Origin
Extracted from The Foundr Podcast
Core principles
- 01Fear and action can coexist
- 02Feeling scared is not evidence that an action is wrong
- 03Other people's possible reactions should not automatically decide for you
- 04A small completed action is more useful than waiting for confidence
How to run it
- 1
Name the delayed action
State exactly what you are not doing because you feel afraid. Make it observable rather than describing a vague ambition.
Pro tip Use a verb and a near-term object, such as publish the first video.
Watch out Do not hide several different fears inside one oversized goal.
- 2
Name the feared response
Identify what you believe may happen and whose judgement you are anticipating.
Pro tip Separate social discomfort from consequences that require real mitigation.
Watch out Do not dismiss credible safety or livelihood risks as mere nerves.
- 3
Check the action
Confirm that the action is worthwhile, ethical, and acceptably safe even though it feels uncomfortable.
Pro tip For a business idea, prefer a small reversible test over a large commitment.
Watch out Courage does not replace due diligence.
- 4
Shrink to one move
Choose the smallest concrete action that advances the decision, such as opening the document, asking for the meeting, or publishing one piece.
Pro tip Set a deadline close enough that further rumination is difficult.
Watch out Preparing endlessly is not the same as taking the feared action.
- 5
Act with the feeling
Complete the move without waiting to feel fearless, then use the real outcome to determine what comes next.
Pro tip Record what actually happened so imagined judgement can be compared with evidence.
Watch out One action does not guarantee a positive outcome; the aim is to stop fear deciding automatically.
In the wild
Saunders said school peers picked on her for posting videos and that she went home crying, while her mother told her to delete them. She continued uploading, and the audience gradually grew from hundreds of views to thousands of subscribers.
→ Continuing despite judgement helped her build the audience that later supported her creator career and Fate.
When the publisher asked for a draft, Saunders felt intimidated by having to write the book herself. She opened a Google document at night, asked AJ what the first sentence should be, and began with a joking 'Once upon a time' that remained in the finished book.
→ Starting the document led to a completed memoir and business book after roughly two years of work.
Common mistakes
Waiting to feel confident
The rule exists because confidence may follow action rather than arrive before it.
Treating every fear as irrational
Some fears identify real danger or unacceptable downside and should trigger mitigation, advice, or refusal.
Taking an oversized leap
The next move should create evidence without creating unnecessary irreversible exposure.
Is it for you?
Best for
It is best for reversible, worthwhile actions such as starting a small test, publishing first content, or initiating a difficult conversation.
Not ideal for
It is not ideal when fear signals a serious safety, legal, financial, or ethical risk that requires preparation or refusal.
From the transcript
“Do it scared.”
“just because you're scared doesn't mean that you can't do it”
“still do it scared”
From the episode
568: No Experience, No Investors, 5 x Million Dollar Businesses - How Brittney Saunders Did it
Brittney Saunders