How I Deal with Fear and Self-Doubt as a Business Owner

I confess: For the last 3+ months I’ve been scared shirtless.

(And no, that’s not a typo. It’s a borrowed term from The Good Place. I recommend you start binging the show immediately… after you read this email.)

Anyway, I’ve been experiencing regular bouts of anxiety, stress-induced stomachaches, and mental overwhelm (which, as I’ve taught you, is all in the mind). It’s been rough.

And funny.

I’ll explain that in just a moment.

First, I’m wondering if you can relate.

I used to believe that experienced business owners at some point got over all their fears for good. I thought that once I coached myself through all the mental muck, I’d be home free in my business for good.

That’s why, for the first two years of being self-employed, I coached myself for nearly an hour every day. (I had SO MUCH FEAR to work through.)

My Personal Recommendation for YouWhy Anxiety Holds Me Back in Business and How I’ve Learned to Make Peace with It

But after awhile, I blitzed through so much mental junk I was home free… for a little while anyway.

I took action, served clients, pitched guest posts, and did the work without a lot of mental drama holding me back.

But after a few years passed, the mental junk came back.

So I coached myself daily until it subsided…

And it came back again. And again and again and again.

I’d get through some stuff, get back to work, and then *poof* more mental crap would pop up that required some intense self-coaching.

Like recently, how I conquered my fears related to my Make It Work Live event. I thought after that mental mountain, I was set for awhile.

Oh, I was sooo wrong about that.

You see, right after the Make It Work Online program and live retreat wrapped up, the team and I dove head first into planning the 2019 program and retreat. We want to upgrade EVERYTHING, including the branding, launch content, and entire program itself PLUS massively uplevel the already-awesome team of incredible coaches. It’s SO MANY changes and SO MUCH work.

The scope of this upgrade is huge, overwhelming my brain, and freaking me out. We’ve never tackled something of this scale ever before.

Plus I need to hire lots of new folks to help make it happen and the expense list is causing wild, constant nausea. Add to that my extremely high expectations of myself and my team…

All of this has me shaking—quite literally—with fear.

And…

Wait for it…

I think it’s hilarious!!

I know what you’re thinking: “What?! How can massive levels of fear and nausea be hilarious?!”

Well, it’s because I’ve been down this road so many times before.

At some point, we have to finally accept that fear is a part of the journey. Sure, we forget, and then it pops up, and then we remember, and it’s funny. Like, “Oh right! I thought that was over and done with. Haha, joke’s on me!”

Instead, I simply feel ALL THE FEAR and choose to get on with my work anyway.

Let me be clear:

I don’t condone unhealthily suppressing fear. What I mean is that I don’t give it any power.

Instead, I coach myself through it. I set aside time for emotional releases, and do all the things I know to do to take away its power so I can just get to forking work. (Another Good Place reference; it’s my favorite show ever!)

Because yes, how you respond to your fear is A CHOICE.

Of course, you can listen to the fear, stop everything, stew in the discomfort, try to rationalize it, try to see how it came from when you were bullied in sixth grade, connect the dots back to your narcissistic mother, plaster affirmations all over it, or choose spiritual bypassing techniques (none of which I ever recommend).

But those never work.

The only way past fear is through. And the more you work through the fear, the easier it is to deal with it in the future.

Click to TweetThe more you work through fear, the easier it is to deal with it in the future.

Am I still feeling sick to my stomach? Am I still shaking? Am I nervous, worried, and anxious about this humongous, expensive project? YOU BET!

And I’m doing it anyway.

Get ready, because Make It Work Online 2019 is going to blow your socks off. Holy shirt, you’re going to forking love it!

Now, I’d love to know:

What are you afraid of right now? And are you willing to be with the discomfort, manage your mind, and do the work anyway?

Tell me in the comments below.

I’m cheering you on every scary step of the way!