Starting a new business, just like starting anything in life, can be really frightening.
Not ‘spider on the door handle’ type frightening, but a debilitating fear nonetheless – one that digs its claws into your confidence and your motivation, and drags you back to where things are safe and comfortable.
Now, if you’ve felt this before, you may already know 3 very important things about fear… but if you haven’t, there are 3 key elements that you MUST know, before you can conquer ANY fear in business.
1. Fear is NOT going away;
2. Fear lives right on the edge of your comfort zone;
3. Fear is afraid of action.
Yes, it’s the truth. Fear IS NOT going away. In fact, the MORE you live and the MORE you grow, the more often you will feel it.
And that’s GREAT! Because fear really does live on the edge of your comfort zone, which means if you’re feeling fear, you’re actually living, learning and growing. Go YOU!
But the irony is, fear is also afraid – it’s afraid of ACTION! Getting into action, will reduce your fears every time because the more you do, the more you accomplish. And the more you accomplish, the more you will realise that there wasn’t really anything to be afraid of in the first place.
So, how can this realisation help you with your business?
Well, the sad truth is, many businesses fail, not because of cash flow issues, or management problems, or even a lack of passion, skill or commitment.
Many businesses fail because of fear, and 3 confidence-crushing fears in particular.
The 3 Confidence-Crushing Fears that cause businesses to Fail!
1. Fear of Failure
Just the very word itself, invokes feelings of inadequacy, disappointment and dejection and this fear is usually the first to strike at the heart of all Biz Mums.
What if I invest my money – the money that could be going to my family – and it doesn’t work?
What if I try something new and exciting, and I fail?
What if my business succeeds but as a result, I feel like I’m failing at being a good mum?
The questions that the ‘fear of failure’ plagues us with, are endless and we KNOW… because, as Biz Mums, we’ve come face to face with them all the time.
How will I know when I’ve succeeded?
How many failures and disappointments can I possibly withstand?
And the worst one of all…
How will I know when it’s finally time to admit defeat?
Well, here’s the thing. You don’t and you won’t!
You’ll NEVER know when it’s time to quit, nor will you ever have to feel the crushing defeat of a business failure IF… you accept that the very nature of business itself, is fraught with failure.
In fact, you can’t succeed without failure, so the sooner you acknowledge that (and make it a part of your business operating process and mentality), the faster you’ll be able to overcome this fear and move on with your awesome business.
2. Fear of the WRONG DECISION!
Now, this one would actually be hysterically funny, if it wasn’t so scary, because you see… there’s no such thing as a wrong decision!
Yes, you may feel as though you’ve made choices that didn’t turn out as planned, or that you made a decision that did not work in the best interests of your business BUT the reality is, you have NO IDEA where any other decision would have gotten you, so EVERY decision is actually the RIGHT DECISION at the time.
We can always assume, estimate and predict what we think the outcome of any decision may be, but the truth is, we’ll never know until we take that path.
If it works out, great! If it doesn’t though, it doesn’t mean that it was wrong, because you don’t actually know if the alternative would have been right either.
All it means is that you’ve been given the opportunity to learn and grow from the experience. So, take the learning, accept that you can’t make a wrong decision and… MOVE ON!
3. Fear of what OTHERS may think or say!
Now this one is ALWAYS present, whether you’d like to admit it or not, and sadly, it’s often the people closest to us who we feel are responsible for this fear.
How many times have you heard friends or family members say ‘Really? You think that could work?’ or ‘How do you expect to make money from that?’ or even ‘Hasn’t that been done a thousand times before?’
Each of these questions (and so many others) are a confidence-crushing blow to any woman in business, especially when you’re just starting out. Trust us, we’ve had our share, and many years down the track, we still often hear ‘So how do you actually make money doing that?’
Sadly, no matter how passionately you believe in your product, your service or your business, it’s usually THIS fear that will affect you the most.
For some reason, as women in business, we tend to often take the opinions of others as fact, and we allow them to influence us when it comes to OUR choices and OUR business.
Why do we do this?!?
NO ONE knows YOU, your determination, your passion OR your business, like you do. So don’t let ANYONE tell you what you can or cannot do… not even those closest to you.
Being afraid of what others might think or say about your business is entirely counter productive and usually a pointless exercise.
They are NOT you, they are NOT running your business and they do NOT know the drive, the commitment or the strength of character that you possess, to get your business to where you want it to be.
So, if you’d like a really great tip on how you can conquer these fears, and so many others, we’ve got an amazing exclusive bonus for you below.
Just enter your details below and we’ll give you access to a mind-blowing video from our online course – The Ultimate Confidence Course for Women – that will give you amazing insights into how you can start to manage your fears once and for all, and take your business to the next level!
And remember… BE YOU! We like her BEST!
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