By Dominique Anders, Creative Business and Lifestyle Coach
For entrepreneurs, fear is something that we’re often faced with. There’s no big corporation to hide behind, it’s just us laying it out there for everyone to see and judge. And while it’s completely natural to be scared and worry about things like – “What if all my clients bail and I can’t pay my bills? What will people think of me if I market online?” – it’s detrimental to our business to let these fears rules us.
If we can’t find a way to push past the fear and move forward, we risk getting stuck in analysis paralysis.
I know – I’ve been there. A few years ago, I came to the realization that 90% of my decisions made were based in fear. For me, that was the biggest aha moment and while it’s taken me a while to figure out why I was doing this, along the way I learned how to use fear to my advantage. I use it as my compass. When I feel fear coming on, I see it as a clue that there’s something underneath it for me to explore.
Here’s how I do it:
1) I Acknowledge It
While it’s tempting to just sweep it under the rug, don’t. Whatever the fear is, it’s there for a reason. Trust your intuition and pay attention to it. Your fear could be implying real, actual danger or it could be something like, “If I don’t partner with this person, my business might fail.”
2) I Question It
Take a moment to ask yourself:
What could go wrong if ___? Fill in the blank. Exhaust ALL the possibilities.
Then – and this is really important – switch the question to:
What could go right if ___? Again, list all the potentials that could happen.
For example, say that you want to start posting publicly on social media because you think it could be a smart, strategic move that you want to incorporate in your business but you’re terrified of putting yourself out there. Ask yourself, what’s the worst that could happen? Well, maybe no one will like your posts. Perhaps you’ll get some unfavorable comments. You might even lose some followers or friends. Now let’s talk about what could go right if you were to post online. Maybe you’d get a ton of likes or comments. How about if what you posted went viral, driving more visitors to your website? See where I’m going with this? There are so many possibilities out there that we simply don’t know what the outcome is.
3) I Use It
Using fear as a compass, as a motivator is key because no matter what we do, this four letter word is going to rear its ugly little head at some point. We can’t control when it comes up, but we can control how we react to it, which is the biggest lesson I’ve learned over the years.
About the Author
As a creative business and lifestyle coach, Dominique Anders works closely with her clients to develop and map out a success route to achieve their goals, elevate their careers and face their fears along the way. She utilizes her extensive background in entertainment to directly relate to those working in creative fields. Find out more about Dominique through her website: http://www.dominiqueanders.com
