Want Success? Don’t Let Fear Be the Gum on Your Shoe

When has fear kept you stuck in a rut? At a fork in the road in your career? When your business stagnates in a bad economy? When a relationship has dissolved?

As a coach, I hear clients describe their ruts. Fear has them stuck like gum on a shoe. Meanwhile one single step can remove the gum and get them moving.

Don't Let Fear Be the Gum on Your Shoe Image by:Mahalie

Image by Mahalie via Flickr Creative Commons License.


When you want success and know you must change yet feel stuck, don’t let fear be the gum on your shoe.

Break free by finding people who have been through something similar — who no longer have gum on their shoes — who will share the steps that got them moving again.

Here’s why:


  1. Fear of taking a step is lessened by learning from those who have survived the step.
  2. Fear of the unknown is countered by those who now know the unknown.
  3. Fear of acting oddly during the change turns to knowing smiles when you hear how they felt and behaved.
  4. Fear of being wrong crumbles under the evidence of their experience.
  5. Fear of being alone on the journey is eliminated when you travel it through their success.


Well established support groups and their members thrive on these principles. Still many people have challenges that established support groups don’t address.

Fear not. Online chats, social media friends, bloggers, authors, and professional coaches all have life experiences to share.

I have transitioned through three careers, started a business, and overcome business hurdles with insight from friends, coaches, and incredible social media connections. You don’t have to travel alone.

Reach out now and leave your story in the comments section below:

    One rut you broke out of and how you did it OR
    One rut you want to break out of and two answers you seek.

Don’t let fear be the gum on your shoe! Reach out and step forward in your life, career, and business.

From my professional experience to your success,
Kate Nasser, The People Skills Coach™

©2011-2015 Kate Nasser, CAS, Inc. Somerville, NJ. I appreciate your sharing the link to this post on your social streams. However, if you want to re-post or republish the content of this post, please email info@katenasser.com for permission and guidelines. Thank you for respecting intellectual capital.


Kate Nasser, The People Skills Coach™, delivers coaching, consulting, training, and keynotes on customer service, teamwork, and leading change. She turns interaction obstacles into interpersonal success. See this site for workshop outlines, keynote footage, and customer results.

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Engage in people skills learning!

Let’s turn interaction obstacles into business success in leadership, teamwork, and customer service experience.

I invite your questions, welcome your wisdom, and look forward to working with you.
~Kate Nasser, The People Skills Coach™

2 Responses to “Want Success? Don’t Let Fear Be the Gum on Your Shoe”

  1. Gary Loper says:

    Great thoughts Kate, over time I have been in some pretty deep ruts and looking back I know that I dug them all. Couple things I have learned to keep in mind are to always remember that other people’s action is always about themselves – we interject ourselves into their situations and take things personally when it was never about us, and to keep picking myself up every day and saying Yes to my dream, my tasks knowing that even the smallest step forward brings me closer to achieving and accomplishing my goals.

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