Today, we’re going to look at ways we can overcome the most common fears in creativity and entrepreneurship.

As creative entrepreneurs, fear sometimes feels like it’s part and parcel of the job. “Up all night worrying about your new product line? Chewing your fingernails to oblivion over your inbox? Get the sweats when the bills come in? Congrats, you’re a creative entrepreneur!”. It doesn’t have to be this way. You don’t have live in fear and suffering in order to be a ‘real’ business owner.

It’s perfectly normal and healthy to have fears. What’s not healthy is when our fear forces us into inaction; when it stops us from reaching our version of success. Fear, worry and anxiety can often lead to procrastination, and if we don’t overcome them, we can end up abandoning our dream of creative entrepreneurship because the fear of potential pitfalls becomes overwhelming. It’s time to overcome those fears and get moving.

Firstly, we need to acknowledge our fear. Yes, making something and putting it out for all the world to see feels like the stuff of nightmares. Relying solely on our wares, creations, services and expertise is incredibly scary. But it's doable. It’s important to remember that fear doesn’t make you weak, it makes you human. Then, break it down. What is this fear telling you? Get specific on what’s stopping you. Has someone said something to you in the past that’s stuck? Perhaps a family member has made an unhelpful comment that keeps coming back. Maybe someone’s doubted your abilities and that’s making the fear worse. Discovering that block and working on it before it takes over your confidence and self-belief is integral to making actionable progress.

Trusting your instincts and making sure it’s in line with your big vision is what will help you overcome these fears (or at least take them out of the driver's seat). Life is full of swirls and twirls and zig zags. It’s full of times where we have to start over, whether by choice or circumstance. But I wholeheartedly believe that on the other side is where the magic happens.

The next 5 fears are the most common among the OGB community and my coaching clients:
 

This is probably the most common fear that my clients will come to me with. They’ve gotten to a point in their businesses and their lives where they’ve arrived at a crossroads and they need to make a decision on which direction to go in. They’re worried if they choose the wrong path or direction, they’ll fail.

The thing is- it’s not actually possible to fail in this zig-zaggy journey of self-employment, no matter what you’re told. Every mistake you make, every decision that doesn’t turn out how you expected isn’t failure; it’s a lesson. Growing up, my dad had a penchant for saying ‘everything in life is a lesson’ at unnecessary, annoying moments. If I left my homework on the bus- ‘everything in life is a lesson’. If I missed the last train home and needed picking up- ‘everything in life is a lesson’. If I dyed my hair brown after an awful first breakup because I’d just watched Sex and The City 2 and that’s what Carrie does when her and Big break up - ‘Oh good lord what have you done?! Oh well, everything in life is a lesson’. It would anger and infuriate me back then but now, as a coach and business owner, I completely agree. I’ve made numerous big decisions in the last few years; some that haven’t worked, others that I went back and forth on countless times and ended up being the best things I’d ever done. If you’re putting off making a decision because you’re wary it’ll be the wrong one- just go for it. If it doesn’t end up working out, the worst thing that can happen is you’ll have to dust yourself off and try another way.

For further listening, listen to Ep 14- What To Do When You’re At A Crossroads here.

Firstly, how do you know you can’t do it if you’ve never tried? Try trying first before assuming you can’t.

Secondly, do you really think you can’t do it or is that your inner critic spouting rubbish again? Recognise this fear for what it is -- untrue. The stuff your inner critic spouts out is not truth. It is not who you are, what you can be, or what you will be. It is years of negative self beliefs, blocks and limiting thoughts coming to a head -- creating its own language and getting you to believe it. The next time you think you can’t do something, pause, and ask yourself who’s saying this, me or my inner critic?

Taking the time to identify why that negative thought has popped into your head will give you a chance to explore whether it’s truth or not and will stop any unnecessary quitting or general throwing things away.

You can honestly do anything if you put your all into it. If you show up every day, try your absolute hardest and keep being patiently persistent: you will do it. Our potential is limitless.

Listen to Ep 19- How to Fire Your Inner Critic, here.

One of the main challenges we seem to hit as creative entrepreneurs is comparison -- that drop-feeling in our stomachs when we see someone else doing something very similar to you and not being able to shake the negative narrative that comes along with it. Yes, everyone else is probably doing what you’re doing. Originality doesn’t exist anymore. However, you haven’t done it before. There's room for everyone at the table- we're all doing our thing our own way because we're all wholly unique. Try not to fall down the comparison hole and remind yourself that no one is you, and that is your power.

Ep 26 with the wonderful Comparison Coach, Lucy Sheridan might help you here.

Money is a huge source of anxiety for a lot of people. The uncertainty of an irregular income and the fear that brings with it are enough to deter a lot of people from even considering taking the leap into creative entrepreneurship. And those who do take the plunge are often constantly worried about where the next paycheck is coming from. The first step to getting over this fear is by working on your money mindset. Your money mindset is essentially the feelings and thoughts you subconsciously develop towards money from your life experiences. Because our thoughts often control our actions, developing a negative money mindset can create a barrier between you and financial health. It can keep you in a state of lack as well as stress and anxiety and it can keep you from achieving financial goals.

Being self-aware enough to recognise any self-sabotaging thoughts is not easy but without doing this you won’t be able to improve your mindset and starting earning what you deserve. Sabotaging language tends to be like these:

• I’ll never get out of debt

• I don’t make enough to save

• I’ll never be able to afford that

• I’ll never make as much as so-and-so

• I hate money/money is evil/the rich are evil

When we’re in a negative money mindset, we blame money for everything. We blame it for all of the bad things in the world, for not being able to hang out with pals because we’re too broke, for not being able to follow our dreams because we just can’t take the risk. The key thing to remember here is that all money is, is energy. Money is currency, and currency is energy. It is not to blame for our lack of things, or for evil things happening in the world. The evil things are down to the evil people who just so happen to have money. It’s like saying ‘Urgh, I hate the sky. The sky is the reason why my business is failing, it’s why I need to move back in with my parents’. We can’t blame the sky for our problems because it’s done nothing wrong! And neither has money. If you keep insulting money, it ain’t going to come anywhere near you. We need to shift the negative narrative if we really want to get earning what deserve.

Take time to reflect on things you’ve thought or said in the past. If nothing comes to mind, make a conscious effort to keep track of how you feel or what you say when the topic of money comes up. What happens when an unexpected bill comes in or when an invoice that you were expecting hasn’t been paid? Make a note of it, even if it feels like the truth and not a self-sabotaging thought, and reflect on how that thought is affecting your actions. Interrogate that thought and switch it. Ask yourself why it is that you think that, and turn that negative thought into an empowering one. Change the story and switch the narrative.

Read more tips on changing your money mindset from a previous Weekly Letter here.

Strive for progress, not perfection.

Not only does perfection keep us from feeling good enough but it actually doesn’t work effectively as a productivity system. Perfectionists are really bad at taking action because they are so scared of failure. I don’t know about you but the times I make the biggest strides in my personal growth is when I take action, despite not knowing entirely what’s going to happen (i.e. every time I do something remotely new). It’s not ‘Jump and the net will appear,’ it’s ‘Jump and then create the net.’ In other words, if you want to be successful in any endeavor you have to learn to trust you fully. We can never predict outcomes with 100% certainty and betting on results can be a tricky business. But you know what you can bet on? Yourself. To handle whatever comes up. And that’s the anti-perfectionist — the person who says, “I got this. And if I don’t, then I’ll find that out eventually and at that point, I’ll do what I need to do.” The idea of striving for perfection helps no one. It keeps us from realising our true power and coming fully into our unique amazingness by setting up some arbitrary standard of what we should be. It does us a complete disservice.

Don’t worry about getting it right. Just get started.

Lastly, it’s vital to remember that you are not alone in these fears. Every single person has them. When you can recognise that almost everyone else in your situation shares your fears and worries, it helps lose some of their power over you.

As always, I’m cheering you on!

Lola