maybe i am the coward one, whenever i start a new project, i am scared out of my wits, i quite literally feel a vacuum around me. at that point the instincts take over and either i fight or flight :). i recently learnt that it's all about understanding.
as you start a new project, you know almost nothing about it. as you read more and more code, when you ask questions and find answers to them, when you take some help (after a few decent tries), you slowly start understanding and pick up the speed, the fear goes away.
the initial few hours were scary for me because i was rushing towards the solution, through shortcuts in a town i knew nothing about, no surprise they led me to some pretty scary places. approach a project from the perspective of understanding the problem, the code around it.