This week the mainstream media, social media and every day conversations have been flooded with stories of terrorism in Paris and Beirut. A quick Google search will show you that acts of terrorism are a regular occurrence at this time in history; some claiming many lives, others smaller in scale that tend to go unreported by mainstream media.

It can make the world look like a scary place. It can be debilitating, wondering what the future holds and living in fear of what might happen.

My personal Facebook profile picture is an image of a head, with the quote “A head full of fears has no space for dreams”. Although I have had this profile image for quite a while, it seems very pertinent now. When we are witness to so many atrocities around the world, and in our own backyard, it can be easy to let fear fill our heads.

But now more than ever, I think it is an important mantra to remind ourselves of, both in our personal lives and in business. If we let fear cripple us, we will never move forward and achieve our goals and dreams. If we let fear cripple us, the source of that fear is victorious.

Sometimes for business owners, that fear is related to external factors: will I get enough clients to make ends meet? Will that change in government policy adversely affect my business? Sometimes, the fear is simply of the unknown. Or a fear of not being ‘good enough’ to succeed.

Wherever your fear stems from, don’t let it rule you. In the same way most of us believe that today’s terrorists ‘win’ if we succumb to our fears, don’t fill your head with fears and worries that most likely will never happen. Shift your thoughts, filter out the fears, and focus on your dreams. Your dreams are what has got you this far, not your fears. Focus on the dreams, the good and what you want to achieve, and leave no space for fear.

Michelle Grice writes a weekly column for business women in The Western Weekender