Tackling Business Fears

How many of you reading this are putting something off out of fear? Fear is something that can be overwhelming and paralyzing. Fear of contacting a new partnership company. Fear of making the first step to starting your own business. Fear of driving. Fear of the dark. Fear of a new relationship. Fear of leaving the comfortable for the unknown. Fear of failure. Fear of change.

Recently, I have let my own fears drive my emotions and ultimately my private practice. Two months after leaving my full-time job, I started to panic. What if I don't make enough money to survive? What if I don't get any more clients? I began to feel unsure of my next step and had a dip in my motivation. After reading multiple business books and filling my social media with positive business owners, I realized that everyone has similar fears to mine; however, the key to overcoming them was doing something about it. I could sit and worry all day long and that wouldn't solve anything. In fact, that would probably contribute to the possibility of my worst fears happening since I was ultimately neglecting my business.

Through working with my own fears, I have laid out 3 steps that I believe could be beneficial in many situations. These steps are a combination of thoughts from books, articles, my own experiences, and friends and family members. I hope these steps will help you as much as they have been helping me!

Step 1 - Write out the worst case scenario
What could happen if your fears came true? One of my fears is not getting enough clients to sustain my business. This is what my worst case scenario looked like: Loss of clients (or lack of gaining new clients) --> Loss of income --> Drain or use my savings --> Lean on my boyfriend (since we live together) --> Close my business --> Feeling like I failed and disappointed those who believed in me --> Be forced to find an actually 9-5 job, which I wasn't thrilled about. One thing I did when I wrote out the worst case scenario was think about a rebuttal. Loss of clients, maybe I would find better ones? Use my savings, isn't this what I have been saving for anyways? Lean on my boyfriend, didn't we talk about this being a possibility and work it out financially? Feeling like I failed, well don't they know how hard I tried? Finding a 9-5, maybe it is something I will love? I feeling like having the little rebuttal almost helps you to emotionally prepare for what could happen and it makes it easier to settle those fears for the time being. When thinking about your worst case scenario, I would think about ways you could fix things along the way too. You don't want to have a small loss of income and immediately think you need to forgo the business and find a job. Think about steps you could take if just one of those fears start to develop and how you could rebound from it.

Step 2 - Write out the best case scenario
Let's say you want to take a risk and that fear is stopping you. Once you have your fears broken down, think about what is the best thing that could happen. Take my client example from earlier: Influx of clients --> Boost in income --> Ability to grow my business --> Hire assistant or an additional dietitian --> Allows me to do more creating behind the scenes --> More products developed --> More opportunities with new clients --> Working less to allow time for a family --> Feeling really awesome! The possibilities seem endless in this scenario. When you take a risk in your business or personal life, you have the opportunity to grow, make connections, and succeed.

Step 3 - Start your day with one thing that you fear
I was reading the "Tools of Titans" by Tim Ferriss and I came across a section that said something like, "What we fear doing most is usually what we most need to do," which i believe was an excerpt from a previous work of his. That quote resonated with me so much since I was in a place of worry and fear of my business direction. I decided then that I would start every day with something that I feared or something that I needed to do, but didn't really want to. Doing this made me feel charged, accomplished, and more confident afterwards. Instead of letting that fear continue to paralyze you, nip it in the butt first thing in the morning. It doesn't have to be a huge jump every morning, but instead, can be a small step in overcoming your fears.

Fear is definitely hard to overcome, especially in business. It takes courage and strength to push through the uncomfortable and grow. I would highly suggest finding someone close to you who could give you the honest truth about your fears. Are they even rational? Do you need a good shake? This person will need to be able to give you honest feedback in that they can't just agree with everything you say. Find someone who will challenge you and push you.

I hope reading this blog helped you to either take the first steps in identifying your fears or take actions to overcome them. Leave me a comment to let me know what you are working on!