FEAR - The Thing That Stops You From Building a Business

FEAR - The Thing That Stops You From Building a Business

Dr. Linda Hancock

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr. Hancock has written a regular weekly column entitled “All Psyched Up” for newspapers in two Canadian provinces for more than a dozen years. Over the years, her readers and clients have said that they have benefited from her common-sense solutions, wisdom, and sense of humour. Dr. Linda Hancock, the author of “Life is An Adventure…every step of the way” and “Open for Business Success” is a Registered Psychologist who has a private practice in Medicine Hat. She can be reached at 403-529-6877 or through email office@drlindahancock.com

Published

January 5 2011

Often people tell me that they would love to have their own business but do not believe that this could ever happen. When questioned further, they explain that they are just too afraid to start.

Well, fear forms the bars of our own cages. Often the thing that we fear the most is something that we have never tried. In other words, we have a fear of the unknown.

We let our minds imagine all the horrible things that MIGHT go wrong - and then let these ideas fester for years and years, all the while immobilizing us. The result is that we can become sad instead of fulfilled with our lives.

But this doesn't have to be the case. You can change this.

Well, there are several things that you can do if you have fear of starting a business:

Make a decision that you are going to stop thinking about what you don't want. You will no longer feed the things that help the fear to grow.
Make a commitment to start focusing on the things that you do want. Deliberate effort will work but you will need to pay attention to your self-talk and thought life, replacing the negative ideas with positive ones.
Start talking with people who have successful businesses. Ask good questions of them and be particularly interested in their "getting started" stories.
Begin writing down ideas about the type of business you would like to have. I suggest that you purchase a journal and use that as your dream book.
Visit some of the businesses that interest you. Talk with the staff or email the person you admire who operates an internet marketing business.
Recognize your skills and abilities. Write lists in your journal of all the things that you have learned and experienced that would help you to be a good business person.
Start talking about what you can do instead of what you can't do. People will pick up on your enthusiasm and soon you will have an inspiring conversation to enjoy!
Begin setting a few small goals that will move you forward. Remember the expression: "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step" (Confucius).