Every successful person has had to deal with fear. Business owners are no different.  We have to learn to overcome business fears if we are going to be successful.

From Fear to Freedom

The biggest difference between someone that is wildly successful and someone who is not is the courage to take significant action over and over again. Taking action is the best way to overcome fear.

These steps will enable you to take that significant action, repeatedly:

      1. Simply decide to succeed

Most people never really decide to do or accomplish anything significant; at best they ‘kinda sorta try it out.’ However, once you’ve truly decided to go for your dreams, there is no other option – and no room for fear or doubt – in your mind. In fact, the word ‘decide’ means to cut yourself off from any other possibility.

2. Embrace risk

Chase after your fears and show them who is boss! Make the tough presentation or phone call. Ask for whatever it is that you want. A big part of being successful is doing things that other people are too afraid to do.  We all have to take chances and embrace risk.

3. Prepare yourself.

Many of our stresses, challenges, and concerns are things that we anticipated. Take the time to find solutions and put them into place before you need them. When you can see a challenge that is likely to come up, simply prepare for it instead of worrying about it.  Preparing in advance will save yu time and money.

4. Go with the flow.

If you don’t live in the past or future, life is much less stressful. Let go of your resistance to the present moment and see what happens.

5. Focus on the good outcomes.

Most people look for the worst and expect it to happen. Expect the best and it’s much easier to take action. Sure, some undesirable things will likely happen along the way, but they’ll be like mosquitoes that need to be shooed away. That’s much better than the brick wall that you might otherwise perceive.

6. Learn to relax.

When you feel stress and anxiety coming on, a few slow, deep breaths can make a huge difference. To a large extent, our psychology follows our physiology; breathing is the only part of our physiology that we can really control. Use that control to your advantage.

7. Fully engage in your life and get away from the news

The news is so negative. Instead, find something interesting to do with your time. If you’re conquering less stressful things all day long, the more stressful things don’t seem so bad anymore. Take a piano lesson, go hiking, or go skydiving. It will make your life more interesting, too.

8. Realize that you are enough

Even if you have things to learn and skills that need to be honed, that doesn’t mean that you’re incapable of the task at hand. Plan to acquire the resources you need, but do everything you can with the resources you have now.

9. Start small

Make a list of everything that you need to do but can’t seem to follow through on. Put them in order from least scary to most. Now decide to do the item at the top of the list. When that’s done, do the next. Only focus on the current item at the top of the list.  This accomplishes two things.  You gain confidence in your abilities and you systematically complete the tasks you are fearful of.

Taking these steps will help you overcome business fears and build confidence.  I can’t wait to see what you accomplish next.