During my 50 + years of living on the planet, I have come to understand that there will be many things in our life that we must fight for true freedom. Sometimes it’s freedom from bad relationships, freedom for bad habits, and the BIG one – freedom from FEAR.
As I coach with women from all walks of life I find that there is one thing they have in common if they are seeking to make radical changes in their life – FEAR. There’s the fear of failure, fear of success, fear of criticism, fear of judgment, fear – fear – and more fear.
We all have fear. If anyone tells you they don’t fear anything, I hate to say it but, they’re not being truthful. We all fear something. Sometimes our fear will serve us and most often it will hinder us. For instance, I have a fear of heights which makes driving in the mountains and across bridges very fearful for me.
So, you may ask, how do you conquer fear?
My first answer to you would be, you must face fear head on. Not only must you face it head on, you have to keep facing it over and over again. This is exactly what I’ve been doing with my fear of driving in the mountains and across bridges.
This past weekend I made the decision to drive my granddaughter home to Florida all by myself, without my husband. The trip from Tennessee to Florida includes one mountain and two bridges that I have to cross to reach my destination. While there was still fear present, I made a decision to just do it.
Since we relocated to Tennessee four years ago, we take a lot of road trips. Tennessee actually borders 8 states so we can drive to many places for a quick weekend getaway. On our trips, we have encountered many bridges and some mountains. To help me face my fears over and over again, I make it a point to drive across these bridges and mountains as much as I can.
An area I notice a lot of people are afraid of is, leaving their 9-to-5 job to pursue their dream of becoming an entrepreneur. I understand that fear also. My last job as a Lead Project Manager was a very well-paying job. When I made the decision to leave the corporate world and pursue my dream of entrepreneurship full-time, it was scary. However, I made the decision to go after my dreams. I put together a plan to make it happen. I started my coaching practice part-time and diligently worked it that way for three years before making the leap into full-time entrepreneurship.
The most fearful things about leaving a job to pursue entrepreneurship are the unknowns – how and when will the money come in, how will you pay your bills, will this business idea really work? And there’s a ton more of these fears. But again, the best way to conquer these fears is to face them head on. Now don’t get me wrong, don’t just jump up and leave your job. There must be adequate planning to take this giant step.
To start the process of leaving your 9-to-5 to become an entrepreneur, consider these three very important questions:
- What do I really want?
- Why do I want it?
- Is there a market for my business idea?
Of course there are many more questions you must answer, but this is a start to really get your juices flowing around your desire to become an entrepreneur.
Love,
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