Don't Fear the Fear -- Let It Drive You Fear is an assault on your ambition and innovation. It strips you of your confidence. It undermines your decision making and stops all progress. But you can beat it.

Angela Mader still feels the fear. It follows her silently, waiting to strike. It tags along at meetings, wanting nothing more than to cover her ears and eyes, so that the Very Important Thing someone's telling her is blocked by that Very Scary Thing instead. And let's be clear: Mader is not some rookie, having just plunked down her life savings on a hunch. She cleared the first hurdle back in 2008, when her health and fitness startup, fitlosophy, began its ascent to sales in 10 countries and retail partnerships with Amazon, Target and Walgreens.

No, Mader has already faced fear and survived. But that doesn't matter. "A healthy level of fear is always present or lurking, causing me to question everything," she says. "It's not only my future on the line here. I have families that depend on me to pay their bills, and I have a responsibility to my customers. The fear that "Oh my gosh, this is not going to work' is very real."

It's also very common.