What Really Might Be Causing You to Fail at Business

If business isn’t going quite the way you might have hoped, there’s a good chance that you have sorted through the possibilities of what you might be doing wrong.  If you haven’t come up with anything tangible, it’s likely that you may actually be the problem.  I’m not talking about something that you’re doing or saying.  I’m talking about what’s going on internally.  I’m talking about fear!  Specifically, your fear of failure.  You might be saying, “Wait…that makes no sense!  How could fear be negatively impacting my business?  It’s just a feeling!”  Well, it’s a feeling that is going to impact every single decision that you make surrounding your business and, thus, will most certainly affect your long term success.  Let’s take a deeper dive into how fear might be contributing to the state of your business. 

It’s important to first presence the truth that the fear of failure impacts literally everybody, even the super-rich and famous.  It’s such a big thing that it even has its own name; atychiphobia.  Take a moment, if you will, and ask yourself whether or not you think that this could be a real thing for you.  If your answer is yes, don’t worry.  You aren’t destined to accept this as your fate.  There are many simple ways that you can face this fear and move into a more expansive state.

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The very first step is doing what you’re doing right now.  It’s recognizing that it’s happening, but you have to add onto that to begin also noticing when it’s happening.  You’ll do this by becoming familiar with the signs associated with the fear.  Some of you might experience this as a feeling of being stuck.  Others might feel overwhelmed, unmotivated or like you’re in a perpetual state of procrastination.  Maybe you’ll catch yourself when you notice yourself telling people about your failures before they even happen.  Maybe you’ll recognize your tendency towards perfection or your concerns about letting other people down and these will be your red flags to let you know that fear is present.  Whatever it is that’s happening inside of you, commit to getting familiar with it.           

Next, you have to choose to deal with it.  Underneath all of those feelings, there is a root cause that’s keeping you in this holding pattern.  You can’t move forward confidently until you’ve embraced your gifts and talents and started to talk back to the negative thoughts that are arising.  You’ll do this by asking yourself a few questions.  Are you waiting for your entire plan to be perfect before you proceed?  Are you concerned about all of the unknowns that might arise as you begin to work towards your bigger goals?  Are you so caught up in needing to be prepared that you’re not even taking the first step?  If your answer was yes to any of these questions, I have the cure to help get you unstuck. 

Choose a step and take it.  That’s right…the best way to alleviate this fear once and for all is to push past it and take an action step; literally any action step.  Determine your first best move and then, day after day, commit to doing the next right thing.  When your fear pops up, speak out loud to it.  Tell it to stop talking, to go away, or remind it of all of your strengths and talents.  You absolutely do not have time to indulge that voice if you truly want to experience success.  Just keep taking your next steps day after day after day and, before you know it, you will begin to see some tangible results following all of your efforts. 

What it all boils down to is this: you can’t possibly know exactly how your plan is going to unfold.  There’s no crystal ball that’s going to give you all of the answers and fully prepare you for any pitfalls that you might encounter.  You’re going to learn how to navigate these things by stepping boldly towards them.  Think back on your life and some of the goals that you’ve had for yourself.  Did your goals unfold perfectly or exactly as you had foreseen them unfolding?  Chances are good that the answer there is no, and yet, you’re still here!  The world didn’t end, you are still surrounded by people who love and support you and you are still working towards new goals.  Trust in your own intelligence and know that you have what it takes to figure it out.  As you successfully move through barriers, your confidence will continue to build until eventually, that fear is just a little memory in the back of your head. 

If you are still struggling to determine what those first best steps are, you are not alone.  Many entrepreneurs feel stuck and confused when it comes to taking that initial plunge.  Rather than continuing to battle yourself, check out my website, www.tracybeavers.com, and book a discovery call so that we can come up with a plan together.  I’m excited to help you rejuvenate your enthusiasm about your business, remind you of how awesome and intelligent you are, work with you to redefine success and help you to build a tangible road map to get you from where you are to where you want to be. 

If one-on-one coaching feels out of alignment right now, there are multiple other ways that you can gain the support that you’re seeking working with our team, as well.  Join our Facebook Group, “Be a Confident Entrepreneur: Gain Confidence and Grow Your Income” to hear what other like-minded individuals are doing to grow their businesses or check out the 6-week self-led course available on our website.   Cheers to your success!

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Video Transcript 

Hey, there, my friends. In today's training, we're going to cover a very sneaky thing that might be happening to you as a small business owner, and you likely have no idea. My name is Tracy Beavers, and if you're new to my channel, I'm so glad you're here as a business and sales coach. I help you grow your business and it doesn't matter if you're just starting out with an awesome idea and a dream or if you're an established business owner having great success. Whatever your need is, we work together to map out clear action steps for you to get from where you are right now to where you want to be, and we get there faster because you have a road map from me and my team, to keep you focused with every single step. I've been in sales and marketing over 15 years and have guided many businesses just like yours using my unique roadmap approach. If you're new here, be sure to smash that subscribe button because I've put out a brand-new training every single week and be sure to check out the show notes below the video, because I've got a ton of great free resources. I have some great free guides and some blog content that I've crafted just for you.

So let's dive into today's topic, and I'm going to start by asking you a question, and I need you to be honest with me and yourself ready. Could you be letting your fear of failure cause you to fail? Let me repeat it: could you be letting your fear of failure cause you to fail? I can't remember what training I was listening to, or maybe it was a webinar. I don't even. A podcast, something, but the speaker said that question, asked that question and I was like hold up! Wait a second. Am I doing this? Fearing failure is completely understandable. It is real and it is something that everyone feels. And if they tell you they don't fear failure, say that five times fast, I'm getting tung tied, if they tell you that they don't fear failure, they’re not being honest, I mean they're just straight up lying. Even the super rich and famous still have this fear from time to time. Promise.

Even me, as comfortable as I am on video, even when I'm tongue tied and can't pronounce my words, as confident as I am that I can help you grow your business, the fear of failure still hits me from time to time also. It is such a big thing. The fear of failure is such a big freaking deal that it's actually a phobia.

Can you believe that? Did you know that, I didn't, it's called Attica phobia. I think that's how you pronounce it seriously. Don't laugh at me. I'm not a scientist, I'm a business coach. I have no clue how to pronounce it! Failure has its own phobia named after it. Then it really must be real right. So you're like, ok, Tracy, I admit it, I'll put my hand up. I'm doing this to myself.

So what do I do about it now?

The first step is being honest with ourselves, which you are, and recognizing when it's happening. That's it. We've got to recognize. When it happens, fearing failure can manifest in different ways: it's the feeling of being stuck. Overwhelmed. Lack of motivation. Procrastination. Maybe you're telling people you will fail before you've ever started. Maybe you're a perfectionist and unless every detail is in perfect and ready to go, you aren't going to get started. Maybe you are so afraid of letting other people down that you decide it's better to not even try. Well my friends! Your fear fail is causing you to fail. Truth bomb.

Yup I said it. By not even trying, by talking yourself out of the thing, by not taking one single step forward towards your, you've given up, you've failed before you ever got started.

So what do we do instead? This fear of failure thing is real, and until we recognize it and drag it on out into the sunlight and deal with it, it's going to continue to keep you right where you are, and that's not where you want to be. You want to move forward towards your goals with confidence and a spring in your step. You have gifts and talents that you want to use for this world. We need those and it is time for you to shine my friends. Here is what my clients and I work through when they are letting their fear, a failure, keep them stuck. We talk through it and we get to the root of the problem. Because sometimes the root of the problem is not what they're thinking. Is it that they feel that every piece of their plan has to be perfect before they start? Or maybe they're confident enough to start toward the goal, but worried about all the unknown things that might go wrong? And how do they even tackle those right? They want to be prepared. So I encouraged them to just get started. Just start. Just take one step each day, do the next right thing, and when that fear pops up, tell it to stop talking and go away, because you do not have time for that nonsense. And, before they know it, they have made massive progress.

We will never fully know exactly how a plan is going to work out. That is impossible. I don't know anybody that has a crystal ball that actual works. So unless we have a crystal ball or can see into the future, we're not going to know how this thing is going to work out exactly. Think back to all the things you've done in your life. Goals you've had. Did everything run turn out perfectly? Probably not. And you know what, you're still here, you're still breathing. You didn't die, the world didn't end. Your family still loves you. We hope. Your friends still think you're the bees knees! They probably do. So why should not be any? Right. Move forward, knowing that it's not going to be perfect, that things might go wrong, but that, whatever happens, you are a super smart person and you will figure it out, and when you have a business coach by your side, you can maintain your focus and channel that energy toward your success. Rather, then, spending your time questioning yourself and questioning your decisions. I want you to consider your outcomes, focus on the things you can control, plan ahead as much as possible, stay positive, remind yourself of your awesome and visualize yourself reaching your goal. And this is the most important piece. Let's redefine failure. Let's do that, making mistakes when you are trying. That is not failure. My definition of failure is not even trying, allowing yourself to stay stuck where you are. That's failure to me working on your goal, taking one step forward each day, trying even though you make mistakes, even if it's super messy and super making mistakes when you are trying, is not failure.

So let's get moving on those dreams. Those goals! Today, let's do it, take one step forward. Keep doing the next right thing next week. At this time, you're going to be further ahead than you are today, a month from now. Holy smoke!

Check out that progress right by the end of this quarter. Where are you going to be? It's going to be so exciting and by this time next year, think about all the progress you've made and how far you've come. Do not let your fear of failure cause you to fail. So it is time for me to highlight one of my awesome coaching clients. Absolutely love making a difference for you and I love it more. When you share it with me and the games you've made, you can be featured too. Just let me know in the comments. Connect with me through my website. Let me know how my trainings have helped you so I can feature you and your business too. The highlight of the week goes out to my awesome client, Susan, and she writes:

“While I love what I do, before I started coaching with Tracy, I was going through the data emotions, working in my business every day as opposed to on my business. I love Tracy's positive can do attitude as well as goal setting and accountability. For me, she takes my success personally and, most of all, I know she cares.”

Susan, I care about you too, and I'm so so proud that you're an action taker that you've jumped into coaching with me to maximize your business growth, because you are doing amazing and if you guys know anybody else that would benefit from these trainings, please hit that share button, give it a thumbs up, give it a like and send it to them before you go. Here's what I want you to do now. I want you to go to tracybeavers.com/referralguide and grab your free guide to gaining new clients with ease every day. I have free and low cost ways that you can do this and you can implement these things to day until next time, my friends, I am cheering you on.