Have you ever found yourself stuck, unable to take that extra action step on a project or a goal you care about, despite having all the necessary information or skills? I know I have. I used to tell myself that everything needed to be perfect and that I needed more time to prepare my products or service before launching to the world. This was the story I would keep telling myself. However, I now know that I used these excuses to avoid facing the real reason I was not taking action. Here’s my guide on how to unlock your entrepreneurial potential.
Fear
Fear is a multifaceted emotion that controls our behaviours, and depending on which lens and context we view it through, it can be motivating or deliberating.
If we think about ourselves as actors in the story of our own lives, everything that we have come to learn and believe thus far has taught us that failure is bad.
Take the education system, for example, where we spend more than the first quarter of our lives. A place where we all should be exploring, creating and learning valuable life skills for our future has now become a place where everyone wins on the field, and only a small percentage wins in the classroom.
It is a system Sir Ken Robinson refers to as the linear industrial model and assembly line based on conformity, batching and the efficient division of labour. His analogy is conducive to my belief that the system is set up to reward the highest achievers and segregate the so-called non-achievers with a points system that is demoralising and counterintuitive. It subconsciously penalises the majority who are not in the top tier percentile while crushing our creativity and feeding into this failure is not good ideology model.
“We stigmatize mistakes. And we’re now running national educational systems where mistakes are the worst thing you can make — and the result is that we are educating people out of their creative capacities.”
Sir Ken Robinson
The worst part is that we then cross over into the workforce to become managers, leaders and CEOs, only to be fraught with the same ideology of following the rules and avoiding failure at all costs. At a time when every top 500 company is spruiking innovation, how can we lean into failure when all we have ever done is spent most of our lives running away from it?
How to overcome fear.
One way to overcome fear when starting something new is to acknowledge and understand what scares you. Ask yourself, “What am I terrified of?” and identify what emotions are holding you back. Our fear of failure or rejection can often keep us trapped in a comfort zone that feels safe but ultimately stifling.
Once you have identified your limiting beliefs, challenge them. Remind yourself that you are capable of success and that failure is a natural part of the learning process. Think of all the good things that will come from failure, the insights from what worked and what went wrong, new skills learned and the grit and confidence that comes with being courageous by getting comfortable with the uncomfortable.
Try to pinpoint where this belief came from and reframe it. Which lens are you viewing this belief through? Is it what you really believe, or has it subconsciously been embedded in your thoughts by outside forces? Remember, you are not your thoughts; you are what you think. Decide to think differently and embrace the positive emotions that come with thinking from a growth mindset because emotions drive behaviour, and feel good emotions lead to executing your idea.
This is the technique I use when I find myself procrastinating to execute a task or idea. I often ask myself, what is the worst that can happen? If it won’t kill me, then it is worth trying, as I have so much more to gain and so much more to learn.
Remember, changing your mindset and beliefs is not something that happens overnight. It’s a learned skill like everything else we learn. It requires practice, patience and repetition every day.
By pushing through your fear and taking action, you can achieve things you never thought possible. As Darwin said, it’s not the strongest or the smartest that survives, but the one who can adapt to change.
Are you ready to adapt and thrive? If you can master your thoughts and learn to push through your fear, then you can achieve anything.
You got this!
Anna x
PS: I help budding entrepreneurs validate their business idea so they can feel confident about starting their dream businesses and live life on their terms.
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