Welcome to The Spark Show! In this episode, I talk about facing your fears as a new entrepreneur. 

First of all, congratulations! There are many people who won’t even take this step because let’s be honest, it’s a big one. It’s a scary one! And, it’s definitely not for everyone.

Fears of the New Entrepreneur:

Fear of the Unknown: 

The first fear is something that, of course, everyone is discouraged into going into entrepreneurship, because it is the unknown, and there is a fear of the unknown. It is not like your job where you go in, you do whatever they tell you to do, and every two weeks you get a paycheck.

The thing with entrepreneurship is you don't know when your paycheck is coming. So, you also don't know how long it's gonna take to get to the goals that you want to get to. Of course, that's scary to do that. And, as an entrepreneur who has been doing this for many, many years now, I've realized that I just need to be okay with whatever happens, and knowing that whatever does happen, I will be able to face it.

Fear of Failure: 

The second fear I want to talk about is fear of failure. Now, of course, like anything, there's always a chance that you're going to fail. And so, one of the most important lessons that I've learned is turning my perspective on the word failure and failing and that nothing is failing, and nothing is considered failure. All of it are lessons that we need to learn. And so, just because something didn't work the first time, doesn't mean you're a failure. It took people many, many years, and most entrepreneurs, they never get it right the first time.

If you expect to get it right the first time or the second time or even the third time, you're probably going to be disappointed. If you set yourself up as, 'I'm going to do this, and I'm going to learn a lot, and there's going to be things that don't work, and I just have to keep going and try things until it does work,' then you're gonna definitely be around for the long run. You will probably be in a better shape than a lot of people that go into this with that fear because there is something that is 100% guaranteed in entrepreneurship, and that is failure. I don't know one successful entrepreneur that did not fail or didn't do something that didn't work, you will fail. So, once you embrace that you are going to fail, I think it feels easier and you'll start thinking about what happens after that failure. What did you learn from that lesson? How can that make you better? What can you learn from it?

Fear of Judgment: 

The third thing is the thing that I think cripples most new entrepreneurs or people who want to get into entrepreneurship, which is the fear of judgment. People are scared of failing, but sometimes they're even more scared of other people seeing that they fail.

Now, you might be like, huh, yeah, that's me. I don't want to tell people about what I'm doing because what if I fail, and then they're gonna judge me. And so, fear of judgment is completely normal. Let me just tell you right now, every entrepreneur, I don't care if they've made billions or they're famous, everyone has this fear of judgment, I think it's because we're all human. And we all have egos. And of course, no one wants to be talked bad about or for people to see a failure or something happening, we don't want that, we want everyone to think we're awesome. But, we have to understand that not everyone's gonna think we're awesome. And, just like the fear of failure situation, we just have to switch that perspective because if all you focus on is other people's judgement, then you're actually not going to be able to focus on the thing that you really want to get done.

Now, most entrepreneurs that I know want to make an impact, they want to help create positive change, they want to make a positive impact in the world. And so, you can focus on the fear of judgment, but that is going to prevent you from doing the thing that you want to do, which is to create a bigger impact. What I like to tell people is that every moment is a choice and every moment you can choose what to focus on. You can choose to focus on, 'Oh, no, what if I fail? What are they going to say about me?' Or, you can focus on 'Okay, I want to help one person and if I do this, I'm going to help one person and possibly a million people.' So, you can't do both at the same time, which is great, because then you could choose impact instead of that fear of judgment.

Benefits of Entrepreneurship:

1. You are the boss

The first benefit is you are the boss. The great thing about this is you get to decide what's important, you don't have to ask your boss or your manager if you can work on this project. If you have a project that you want to work on, which is probably why you wanted to be an entrepreneur in the first place, you get to decide, 'Okay, I'm going to spend X amount of time on this, and I'm going to spend my precious time.' You get to decide how you're going to spend your energy and why you're spending your energy into that project.

2. Freedom 

The second benefit of entrepreneurship is freedom, you get to decide how you want to do things. You don't have to go into work from nine to five, Monday to Friday, and that's a great thing. You can decide you only want to work Mondays and Tuesdays and the rest of the week you don't want to work, you get to decide all of these things. And also, of course, the most important is that you get to work on something that fuels you, that is your passion, that is part of your vision, and is the impact that you want to make in the world.

Cons of Entrepreneurship:

1. You are the boss and are 100% responsible for everything

The first con is actually the same as the first pro, you are the boss and that means you're 100% responsible for everything. That means you can't blame your company. You can't blame your manager, you can't blame your VP. You can't blame anyone but yourself. A lot of people cannot handle this type of responsibility. I've seen so many entrepreneurs out there saying, 'Oh, I took this course and it didn't teach me anything.' And, what I can say to that is yes, but did it not really teach you anything? Or, did you not follow the strategies? Did you actually implement the strategies? And for how long did you try it? Sometimes people think that they're just going to try it and there's a magic pill and then suddenly, something magical happens. No, it's because you didn't actually do the work and you didn't do it consistently. You didn't do it for the duration of time that is required for it to actually work. And so, when I start telling people that, they start getting mad, because they realize that they are 100% responsible, and you can't blame a coach or program or a mentor for your business, because it's your business. And, at the end of the day, everything is your responsibility, which is a good thing, right? It's a benefit, because you get to decide, but you also are responsible for all the failures / lessons that has to happen. And that's totally fine. It's part of the journey. 

2. Having too much Freedom

Now, the second con of entrepreneurship - freedom as a benefit, it also becomes a con sometimes because sometimes you have too much freedom and you end up not getting anything done. There has to be some sort of personal responsibility, focus and discipline, where for me, it was really hard in the beginning of when I first became a full time entrepreneur, I felt like I wanted to have a free schedule, but I realized that I worked best and was more productive when I did put myself in a schedule.

Now, I can decide I want to work these hours during the day and some days I can take off whenever I want. But, it was more beneficial to me when I actually had structure in a schedule and scheduling everything out so I knew that things would get done. There is an adjustment period if you're going from the nine to five life to full time entrepreneurship. I'm sure a lot of people can tell you this that sometimes it's hard for people to work at home.

Things Successful Entrepreneurs Do:

1. Have Daily Habits:

This can include meditation, I talk about that a lot, journaling, visualization, and affirmations, which are some of the things I do on a daily basis. Some people like to add workouts to that or some people like to add prayer to that, it's really up to you. A lot of people swear by a morning routine, including me, but some people are like, 'I can't do stuff in the morning, I got kids, so I do an evening routine.' And that's totally fine. Again, you get to decide what works for you.

2. Get Clear on Your Big Vision

Only focus on the things that will get you closer to that big vision.

Because really, if you don't have a vision, you have no idea where you're going. And, it's hard to go to a destination where you have no idea what direction you're going, you're just floating around aimlessly and waiting for things to happen. Most entrepreneurs that I know, they have a vision, they know what goals they want to reach, they know what revenue levels they want, they know what their company is going to look like.

Make sure you spend some time, so that can be an action step for you right now, is spending some time, maybe an hour or so, writing down what that big vision is and making sure that when you are taking the steps, that you're only focusing on the things that will get you closer to that big vision.

3. Find a Mentor / Coach

Now, the third thing that I see successful entrepreneurs do is they find a mentor and a coach, or a program or support system to help them throughout their journey. And, the reason why is because this is hard, right? I'm not gonna lie. I never say entrepreneurship is easy, because it's not. 

It requires work. It requires effort. It requires time. It requires trust, and a lot of us are willing to do it because the rewards are worth it for us. But, we get in our own way, everyone gets in their own way. There's never been someone that I've talked to that says, 'Oh yeah, entrepreneurship is a breeze and I never got in my own way.' Why? Because we're human, we have doubts, we have fears, we have egos.

So, what I found that helped me right away is I invested in programs, I invested in mentors and coaches that helped me get out of my own way. I really worked on my mindset. I'm still a part of programs, and I still have coaches now. I think as you uplevel your journey as an entrepreneur, you're going to continue to have these moments where you need support, and you need guidance from someone that's been there before. So, definitely find a mentor, or coach, program, or support system that's going to help you throughout your journey.

Listen to the full episode here: 

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Listen to Previous Episodes: 

How to Say NO and Feel Good About It

No, You Can't Pick My Brain

How to Deal With Negativity

Life Lessons From Influencers

How to Grow Your Audience With Instagram Giveaways

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