I’m a teacher by trade, so when I started helping others realize their goals, it made perfect sense to me that there was a system for success and I just had to teach it. Easy peasy! I developed instructions, how to’s, tutorials, all full of necessary tips and tricks. But as I worked with more and more women, I came to realize that, even though I was teaching them the whys and hows of running a business, a lot of them were letting one nasty thing get in the way of actually succeeding: fear.
Sure, I could spend more time simply training them on the “hows” of running a business, but I’d be wasting it if I didn’t first get to the heart of that fear matter. You know how that saying goes: we have nothing to fear but fear itself. We’ve heard this so. many. freaking. times. over the past 50 years, it’s easy to dismiss it as glib and meaningless. But it’s not, ladies! I promise. Here’s how fear stops people from even getting started on their dreams:
Fear Disguises Itself
If fear showed up with a big ol’ sash on that proudly exclaimed “I’m Ridiculous, Ignore Me!” then we wouldn’t even be having this conversation, right? Nope, fear shows up looking like excuses — it’s hidden in feeling too busy to work on your goals and it’s skulking around your belief that you don’t have enough resources.
Fear Paralyzes
Analysis Paralysis is a serious disease, ladies, and it’s one that we all must overcome! We will never be perfect, and that’s totally okay. Fear can present itself as over-thinking, over-evaluating, believing that you can’t actually do anything until you spend a lot more time learning things. You can’t start until you’re perfectly ready! That kind of belief is keeping you from moving forward.
Fear Brings Friends
Let me be quite frank: Fear’s friends suck. They’re called Self-Doubt and Insecurity, and there really isn’t anyone more lame to hang with. They’re always questioning you and telling you that you’re not good enough — and who needs that kind of shit? No one! Seriously: None of us needs to spend time with these losers.
Once I realized that my work had more impact when I first started helping ladies recognize and address their fears, my mentorship style changed completely. Now I know that talking through these fears is a key part of the process, and that slaying these gnarly dragons contributes to long-term personal development and professional success.
So, what are you afraid of? It’s time to get into the deep shit — and you can do this. Write it all down and, I promise you, once you see them on paper, you’ll realize how small they really are. Your fears don’t have to control your future, ladies! When you identify them and work toward moving past them, that’s where the magic really happens.
Let’s do this!
