Shifting fear into excitement: your secret mindset shift for success

5 minutes ago
3 min read

By Hannah Darby

Have you ever noticed how fear and excitement feel strangely similar in your body?

Your heart races, your palms get sweaty, you feel a little shaky, a little wired, like something big is about to happen.

That’s not an accident, it’s biology.

When we’re nervous, our body activates the same stress response system (the sympathetic nervous system) that’s involved in excitement.

Heart rate increases, breathing changes, and adrenaline rises, whether you’re about to speak on stage or step onto a rollercoaster.

The difference isn’t in your body, it’s in the story your mind tells about what those sensations mean. That’s where your most powerful mindset shift for success lives:

Instead of telling yourself “I’m scared”… you start telling yourself “I’m excited.”

The science behind “I’m excited”

Psychological research has shown that when people reframe their anxiety as excitement, literally by saying “I’m excited” out loud, they perform better on stressful tasks like public speaking, a maths tests, or singing in front of others. The arousal in the body is the same, it’s the label that changes the outcome. In other words, your body is gearing up to help you rise to the moment, not run from it.

Fear says: This is dangerous. I’m not safe.

Excitement says: This matters. I’m ready to grow.

That tiny shift in wording can move you from paralysis into possibility.

Why fear shows up when you’re on the brink of something good

Fear isn’t proof you’re on the wrong path; more often, it’s proof you’re growing.

We feel fear when we’re:

Visible in new ways (sharing a story, launching a business, raising our prices)
Stepping out of the familiar (career change, new relationship, relocating)
Claiming more for ourselves (success, joy, love, money, freedom)

Your nervous system reads “new” as “uncertain”, and uncertain can feel unsafe, making your alarm bells ring. But often, those bells are really saying:

“You’re standing at the edge of expansion.”

When you start to relate to those sensations as excitement, as your body preparing you, everything softens. You don’t have to get rid of the feeling; you just have to reinterpret it.

A simple 3-step shift: from fear to excitement

You can try this before a big conversation, a presentation, a first session with a client, or any moment that feels high-stakes.

1. Notice the signals.

Pause and name what you feel physically:

“My heart is racing.”
“My chest feels tight.”
“My stomach is fluttering.”

Instead of “I feel awful,” get curious: What’s my body actually doing?

2. Change the story.

Gently choose a new label:

“My heart is racing because I care.”
“This rush is energy, I’m excited.”
“My body is giving me fuel for this moment.”

You can even say out loud: “I’m excited about this.” It might feel clunky at first, but that’s okay. You’re rewiring a habit.

3. Channel the energy.

Fear tends to freeze us. Excitement wants to move.

Use that surge on purpose:

Take a few deeper, slower breaths to anchor your nervous system.
Roll your shoulders, shake out your hands, stand up taller.
Ask yourself: If I really believed this was excitement, what’s one bold action I’d take next?

Then do that one thing. Send the email, hit “post”, say “yes.”

You don’t have to wait until you’re “not scared”

One of the biggest myths about success is that confident people don’t feel fear. However, they do, they just don’t wait for fear to disappear before they act.

They learn to: