Seth Godin recently wrote of a similar tension:

When we try to learn something on our own, we often get stuck.

It’s not because of fear, it’s because of tension.

The tension we face any time we’re about to cross a threshold. The tension of this might work vs. this might not work. The tension of if I learn this, will I like who I become?

[source: http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2017/05/tension-vs-fear.html]