Face the Fear and Move On

Be a Lion

The Cowardly Lion was the one that was always scared – “I do believe in spooks!”? Yet he was the one that led the charge against the Wicked Witch and her monkey minions. Well, eventually…

Fear can be paralyzing. It robs us of our peace and potential. Being in business can be scary. Things can move fast – especially on the internet. You don’t have time for fear. I would love to empower you to turn your fear into excitement.

Tips To Help You Move On:

I’m not good enough.
One of the most common fears, especially for those that are recently laid off, is “I’m not good enough to have my own business”. Get over it already. You’re a professional with years of experience. Yes, there are some new technologies to learn to run your business. That’s good news. It makes business so easy now. Yes, there are some new marketing tactics to master. Think of it as on-the-job training. Jump in and start swimming.

There’s another angle to this. As creative professionals, we can tweak and edit until the cows come home. Guess what? No body cares if the comma is in the wrong place. No body cares if your image is a few pixels to the left. Just get on with it already. Get yourself out there. Listen to what your target market needs and create the solution for them. Keep it simple at first. The point is to move. The longer you wait and worry, the bigger your fears will become. Good is good enough, get on with it.

My own business might not provide me with a ‘guaranteed income’.
There are no guarantees in anything, move on. Remember that job you were laid off from? You worked hard and got laid off anyway. At least when it’s your own business you are the one that benefits from your own hard work. And when it’s not working, you can change it. You’re in control of where you’re going. That’s way better than any guarantees. Besides why should any guarantee put a limit on what you can earn?

I might be poor.
Yeah, so? You might be rich. The thing is to get out there are start working. Yes, you might have to watch your spending and forgo a few gadgets, but you’ll be fine. You’ve made it through before. You got through college, even though it was tough and you were afraid that you’d fail. As long as you’ve got some motivation, you’ll overcome your challenges. The key is to move through it and get out there and start. If you don’t know what to do first, get a mentor or join a mastermind. Just be sure they’re forward thinkers that are a little ahead of you in the game.

Especially when you’re battling immobilizing fear, don’t surround yourself with others in the same space. Many times when we’re struggling, we offer to ‘help’ someone else who is struggling just so we’re not alone. That’s not a good idea. It could end up draining you more than you can afford. So, while you want to encourage your friend, set a goal for yourself to associate with those who are on stable ground at least at first.

There is so much competition.
Get over this one quickly. Yes, there are a lot of writers and a lot of designers but the essential element in your business is you. Your experience and you skill set is completely unique to you. Combine those with your very unique highly-targeted idea client and you really have no competition. You’ve got to figure that mixture out, but once you do it will be very powerful. So again, move on. Get out and find your ideal client and where they hang out. Listen to what they need and create your unique solution for it. Get their feedback and fine tune.

What if clients think my fees are too high?
Then wish them luck and invite them to move on. You didn’t start a business to give yourself a pay cut. If you’re properly targeting your ideal client. This won’t be a problem. Setting yourself apart helps raise you above the scrum where people are competing only on price. When you focus on what you know and are really good at – then get in front of people who need that – and can pay for it – or find a way to pay for it – or you can structure a way for make it pay. (for example, you coach a group rather than one-to-one services) You won’t have the money problem.

A Last Word About Excuses

Be aware of making excuses. It will kill you. In my master’s program, the instructor made the statement “There are no excuses”. If you didn’t get your work done, it didn’t matter if you had an ear ache. You know what? That’s life. A letter from mommy doesn’t cut it in real life. I have a mentor that says, “Put on your big kid panties and get on with it”. Yes. It’s a little harsh but this is your life.

I have a lovely friend that I want so badly to help. She knew that a big – and pretty drastic change – was coming in her life. She decided that she wanted to get her business up and running so she’d be ready. She had two years to work on this. She had a great mastermind group of powerful people giving her all the support she could have ever wanted. She was given access to some of the most valuable business-building material there is. But she had an excuse every step of the way. This was happening and that was going on. She sat paralyzed as the world crumbled around her. She loved to brainstorm, but never wanted to take the steps after that. Life happens while you’re making other plans. Now unfortunately she’s in a far worse situation with not very many options.

You can choose to be blown around by whatever storm comes along. Or you can batten down the hatches and get to work. You’ve got a powerful community here to help you. You have all that you need to succeed. What you don’t have is easily accessible and you can learn quickly. The one essential ingredient is MOVEMENT.