Who said being an entrepreneur was a smooth, fearless journey? NO ONE EVER.
it’s REAL.
People who become entrepreneurs, and become successful, are seen as fearless for getting to that stage, but they wouldn’t be there if they hadn’t felt the fear, and kept going anyways!
Feeling fear as an entrepreneur is VERY REAL, and even the people you most admire, face fear in the things they do, all the time; they might just not share that part of their life as much.
The thing is, we don’t need to be in a constant battle with fear, because fear isn’t something we should fight, but is something we should workaround.
Fear is something that has the power to encourage us, or get in our way.
Fear as an entrepreneur may manifest in various ways, for example, for you, it may look like:
- Starting that Youtube Channel.
- Showing your face on social media for content creation.
- Opening up an eCommerce store.
- Sharing your opinion on your Podcast.
- Filming in public.
- Figuring out the legal side of being an online business owner.
- Signing up to affiliate programs, etc.
Anything can be something that makes you slightly fearful, because everything will be new to you, when being an entrepreneur. None of us were taught this in school, so even the smallest things, like simply opening an account, can be quite daunting in the moment.
For ME, I can say I have been on my journey to making money online for about a year now, and I have faced MANY fears on my different ventures. However, just a few examples of fears I had, and pushed through in the recent months, have been:
- starting this Blog (and I mean even opening an account with Bluehost was scary, making it public, writing my first post)
- ordering samples for my print-on-demand business (who knows why these things make us feel fear, but it did to me)
- signing up to affiliate programs
- taking photos in public for marketing of my merch (coming soon to the blog!)
It almost feels like ANYTHING comes with fear, specially at the start, but it is only natural, since it isn’t second-nature to us yet, and may be our very first time doing something like this!
As an entrepreneur, fear may get in our way but we need to learn how to workaround this fear, so that we can be even more driven the further along our journey we go. I have shared some ways I feel fear, in my personal experience, and now I will share some workarounds I think can help us all. For that we need to start with:
rewiring our view of fear
Feeling fear doesn’t have to always mean something bad.
- Fear is a sign that we care; that we want our online businesses to work and thrive, that we know that what we are doing has the power to completely change the life for us and our loved ones; that we desire that financial freedom so much, we fear not ever having it.
- Fear is an indicator that we want it that bad; otherwise it wouldn’t even bother us to just carry on in our 9 to 5s.
- Fear tells us we are getting out of our comfort zone; that we are heading in the direction of a different outcome; that we are creating a different reality from our different actions and choices. Feeling fear as an entrepreneur tells us we are doing something right; that we are doing something different to most others, and therefore we shall also reap the rewards through a different life that comes from it; an even more abundant one, an even more fulfilling one to us.
- Fear shows us we are about to face growth; fear comes because there is change occurring and you might not know how you’re doing but you keep learning, and adapting, and your desire to improve and get better at your craft, each day, overrides any sense of fear that comes along the way.
- Fear is a motivator; that a life without trying to make our dreams a reality, that a life without time freedom, is even more fearful that trying something new, learning, and giving it a go. Feeling fear that we will fail, and doing it anyways, is better than feeling fear and doing nothing, because our deepest fear comes from never making it, and being stuck in the 9 to 5 cycle for the next 40 years of our lives. That is what drives us and forces us to take action.
- Fear of failing provides us with a reference of comparison. Everything becomes more bearable when you compare the fear of failing with the fear of never getting there. If you fail, at least you are wiser and you build resilience, so you try again until you get there. If you never fail, it’s because you’re not even trying and that’s a certainty that you won’t be closer to your dream life.
Fear is essential to growth, to life, and therefore, to being an entrepreneur.
Let’s reframe the way we look at fear, and start seeing it for the value it instils in us, as entrepreneurs.
Most of the time, it’s not imagining the happiness of our dream life that most drives our desire to succeed in entrepreneurship, but it is the fear that we feel, imagining the rest of our lives dedicating ALL our time away from our loved ones, to something so draining, unfulfilling, and unbearable.
getting used to taking action
Fear may force us to take action, but sometimes it just has us paralyzed in delaying, and procrastinating, and not knowing how to workaround it to get moving.
The understanding of all of the above might be there; our brains may be very well rewired to comprehend the sheer value fear has in our progression and success, as entrepreneurial girlies, but sometimes, the next step doesn’t quite seem to follow; taking action.
On these days, we need to remind ourselves that we need to prioritize taking action above all else.
This doesn’t necessarily have to mean taking action towards your online business, but maybe for you this means taking physical action, like going for a walk, and getting some fresh air for a while. Here, we are getting into the habit of taking action.
How does this help? You may think this is completely unrelated, and besides the point, but maybe if I explain it in the following way, it will make things clearer to you. It all comes down to the notion that: I could tell you to just do the thing you’re afraid to do, but that won’t actively help you do it.
Getting in our heads about all our worries and fearful thoughts are what stop us, and have us sitting in fear, NOT taking action.
Sometimes instead of fighting our thoughts, we can workaround this fear by simply moving our bodies and doing something unrelated, like going for a walk. Moving your body gets you out of your head, and gets you doing something. It will relax you and make you realize that there is nothing physically happening to you, and the things you are fearing are not as big as what you are making it seem in your mind.
Getting into the habit of taking action, no matter what it is, even if it is baking, or a hobby, gets you into the habit of not entertaining your doubts or worry; it gets you into an active state; an active state that fills your cup and reduces your anxiety. It also makes you feel like you are doing something, which will help you feel more proactive in your online business too.
I am not saying this will be the absolute solution to your fear. You may come back from your walk and still feel some fear and delay doing the thing you’re avoiding, but it is a workaround. A workaround will help you work with it, rather than letting it completely control the way you live, and create, as an entrepreneur.
This workaround is really all about rewiring your body, to follow your brain.
Getting used to taking action will reduce the intensity of your fear, get you out of your own head, and physiologically calm you down, so that it is easier to be more logical about what you need to be doing.
life reminders
Reminders that will really humble you and help put any fear, as an entrepreneur, at ease.
- NO ONE CARES. You hear this one all the time, yet still choose not to believe it. Even if you choose to, I know fear will still be there, that is normal, but let it reassure you that you are capable, and everything can be fixed or made better, even if it goes terribly ‘wrong’.
- LIFE IS TEMPORARY. In nicer words, we won’t be here for too long, life flies by and we don’t want our 80-year old self to live with regret, but we also don’t want our 8-year old self to live with heartbreak, that her wildest dreams didn’t come true because she let fear stop her.
- EVERYONE WILL FORGET ABOUT IT ANYWAY. Remember when you had that moment back in school when you felt really embarrassed? Where are those people now? Still thinking about you, and that moment? No. We all move on. Even if something goes wrong, no one will remember it in a few weeks, months, or years.
- YOU ARE WHO HAS YOU FOR ETERNITY. You are the only person you have, guaranteed, from start to finish of your unique, gorgeous life. At night, it’s just you with yourself. No matter who is around you, you will be the one who will always have you. Your energy, emotions, wellbeing are important, and are what create your own internal ecosystem. Nourish that, make yourself proud, and don’t let others dictate how your life should be.
- PEOPLE MAY JUDGE BUT NOT WHEN YOU’RE A CE0,000,000. No matter how fearful you may be of judgement, if being an entrepreneurial girlie is what you feel is meant for you, no one can take that desire away. It will constantly be with you, until you act on it and live out those dreams. People may judge, and you may get slightly affected by this, but judgements change like that once they see you doing good. Moral of the story: these judgements mean nothing.
- OTHERS’ THOUGHTS ONLY EXIST IN THE MIND. Thoughts are not tangible, and so, others’ thoughts of what you are doing will not do anything to you. You cannot control what other people think, but you can control how you react.
When we truly ground ourselves with these life reminders, we get a clearer vision of how much less negative significance fear has in the whole process of it all.
reinforcement cycle
Do it again, and again, and again.
Think we are jumping ahead of ourselves now? We’re not, don’t worry!
Once you have implemented the prior workarounds, the reinforcement cycle is all about working around your fear as many times as possible, no matter how small the step, so that this cycle reinforces you to build-up your confidence to be greater than fear, so that you spend less time and energy invested in this process of fear blocking your way.
Once you repeatedly prove to yourself that fear is just part of the equation, but does not actively stop you from anything, unless you allow it to, you’re unconsciously creating a strong portfolio of times you have done the thing you were afraid of, and felt better after it.
This reinforcement cycle escalates your growth as an entrepreneur, and demonstrates growth within your self-love, mutually.
You will never stop feeling fear, but this level of progression ensures you are less affected by it; you can override fear a lot more easily with your logic.
challenge yourself
This one isn’t necessarily an essential workaround, but provides an alternate path for those who want to try something out-of-the-box, whilst also changing up their routine in their day-to-day life; which ALSO helps in working around fear as an entrepreneur, through our personal growth.
Our business entrepreneurial growth is very much correlated with our personal one, and it is very true here as it is in every other aspect of our journey.
Giving yourself personal challenges will increase your inner strength, that will filter into all areas of your life, including entrepreneurship. For example:
- Take a dance class.
- Try a new workout class.
- Invite a new friend out for lunch.
- Go to a networking event alone.
- Take yourself out on a solo date to a fancy restaurant.
- Wear heels to your 9 to 5.
- Stand out with your clothes, switch-up your fashion sense.
- Start a conversation with a fellow girlie at a café.
- Change your lunch routine; go for a walk on a new route, try a new bakery, get-out, start reading a new book.
These are just a few examples for inspiration, but this is all about getting out of your comfort zone a little bit more, than before. When we demonstrate to ourselves, that we are capable, in these small, but MIGHTY, shifts, we feel more confident and more capable of working around fear in other areas of life, such as with our online businesses.
The serotonin rush of having accomplished something we thought was very, or even slightly, out of our league, will really boost through our whole life.
Allow yourself to do that for you.
Keep going, but also get creative and see how your personal life can greatly influence your mindset and confidence with your business, and fear; that you will inevitably face along the way.
power on girl!
Set the standards that you can do whatever you put your mind to, and you will do it, even with fear in the mix.
Make yourself proud, and know that fear is as much part of the entrepreneurial journey, as excitement is!