Fear

I often have this sense that my business plans are half measures in a way.  Not because they are not fully developed and conceptualised or because I am unwilling to do the work that is necessary to get the businesses off the ground.  Rather they feel like they are half measures because they feel like they could be even bigger and bolder.  I am working on a business that evolved from a legal advice forum into a far more comprehensive site.  It is a pretty big project and, to an extent, it is a little scary because it represents such a shift from my usual comfort zone (one of the big disadvantages of formal employment – it is easy to slip into a quiet, safe comfort zone) and at the same time I know that doing things that scare me are ultimately the rights things for me to do.  Who was it who said that we should do one thing that scares us each day?

Pamela Slim talks about fear and how it inhibits us in her post titled "I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and doggonit, people like me!".  She talks about affirmations and how they are often used to deal with our basic fears of stepping out into the spotlight and taking a chance.  She also talks about that intermediary step we often take, namely our excuses not to step out right now but rather to build the business a little bit more, work for someone a little longer to gain that much more experience and so on.

If you have plans to step out and do your own thing then the most effective way is going to be to not just step out but take a leap off the cliff and fly (or, at the very least, hit all the branches on the way down and land in a big pile of leaves).  Of course this is easier said than done because it also carries the huge risk of losing your income, sanity and home.

Tags: fear, affirmations, excuses, procrastination, stepping out, taking a chance, risk