Are you afraid of putting yourself out there? Is it blocking you from letting people know about your business and gaining clients? Are you finding that your fear is stopping you from pursuing opportunities?
If this is you, then keep reading as you’ll gain fresh insight into why you are experiencing this fear and better still learn strategies that will support you to move through your fear.
So right now you might want to get your business off the ground but be finding that your fear is holding you back from marketing your business so you can gain clients.
This is likely to be very painful for you, it’s like there is one part of you wanting to push forward and then another that is keeping you stuck (it’s probably not helped by the hard time you might be giving yourself for feeling afraid of putting yourself out there).
You might also be wondering why on earth, when you are so passionate about doing your work, are you so afraid?
Well, it is natural to feel afraid when we want something a lot. Building a business or even going after a job you strongly desire, is Personal, with a capital “P”. It’s about YOU stepping out there and showing who you are and what you are capable of.
This is bound to bring up a fear of rejection even in the most resilient of us. The question we find ourselves asking is, “What if I fail, what if it all goes wrong and I don’t succeed, what then?”
Our fear is trying to protect ourselves from having to face our feelings of rejection if we fail. Secretly there is a part within us which thinks we will fail because, well you know, we were no good at school, we don’t really know what we are doing with our work anyway (despite all the training, knowledge and experience we have gained etc..). I am sure you can add to this list with the thoughts you tell yourself that knock your confidence!
If you could face your fear of rejection and start putting yourself out there, you would be able to:
- Talk about your work to people
- Start to market your business offline and online
- Call potential referral sources and ask to meet with them
- Call potential clients and invite them for a free consultation
- Attend networking events
And importantly you would be able to create visibility for your business and start getting the clients who you are here to help!
So how can you overcome your feelings of fear and start putting yourself out there? Here are six strategies that’ll help:
- Meditate on your gifts – this will help you become more confident and clearer on the unique gifts you bring to your work
- Journal about the value to your clients of working with you
- Write down all the positive feedback you have received from past clients
- Practice talking about your work with a friend – ask your friend to ask you the following questions and make sure you set your phone to record the conversation so you can listen to your answers after:
- Tell me about your work?
- How does your training inform your work?
- What inspires you to do the work you do?
- What life experiences have you had that have helped you develop your knowledge and areas of expertise?
- What else has helping you develop your expertise?
- What problems are you passionate about helping your clients solve?
- Who do you love working with?
- How do you work? (tell me about your pricing, location, services etc..)
- Seek support from a coach or counsellor to address any past trauma that might have affected your feelings of confidence and self esteem
- Identify a goal that you want to achieve and then think about what a small step towards your goal would be. Once you know what that step is, you need to decide when and where you will take it and write it into your diary. Then go ahead and take that step. When you complete that step, set yourself another step to take and keep going until you achieve your goal.
Regularly stepping outside of your comfort zone will help you get comfortable with feeling uncomfortable and learn how to handle your feelings of fear so they no longer block you.
