Ishita: In all of the different endeavors and positions you hold, what has been your experience with fear?
Rajesh: I don’t consciously think of the role of fear because I’m more of an action person. To me, it’s like the arcade game where an animal pops up and you hit it with a hammer. That’s how I think of fear; it keeps popping up now and then. But if you have a hammer, which is in the form of an action, you can whack fear down, and when it pops up again, you keep whacking it down again and again to keep moving.
Fear can make you do either of two things: It can either make you take no action or it can make you take massive action because you are fearful. In the first case, it can only lead to more fear because not only are you fearful of the situation, but you haven’t taken any action so you fear things will get worse. What I’ve learned is that the easiest way to tackle fear is to find out the best possible action to take, because it’s the only thing you can do at the time. Do it with your own knowledge and your network of people to help you.
Ishita: So you almost don’t give fear a chance in your mind?
Rajesh: I think it’s always there, but I am mindful of the attention I give to fear. Because there are only 24 hours in a day, the more time I spend thinking about fear, the less time I have to take action.
Ishita: As an entrepreneur, have you gone through any anxiety during the startup phase of your businesses?
