5 Practical Tips to Overcome The Fears That Are Holding You Back

Do you have something that is holding you back from following your passion and your dreams? What is your roadblock? What is that thing that is preventing you from moving forward? 

As entrepreneurs, it's inevitable that we will feel fear at different points of our journey. The question is, what do you do so that you don't stay stuck in fear? 

Last week I pulled back the curtain to share my biggest fears with you.

In today's episode I’m going to share some practical tips that helped me overcome my fears and self-doubt. 

Let’s dive in. 

Whether you’re just starting out, or you’re just playing with the idea of starting a kids crafting club or even when you’re an established kids crafting club owner I can tell you one thing for certain: Having fear and self doubt along your journey is a natural part of running a business.

Last week I shared my fears with you and we explored many of the fears that the women in our community are dealing with as well. We spoke about how some of the fears you may have now may be obstacles, but that they are not insurmountable. If you missed last week’s episode, go back and watch it first.

Here’s the thing:

The key is to not let those fears stop you from following your passion and your dreams.

But what happens when those fears derail you and make you feel stuck? 

This week we are diving into practical tips and solutions to tackle those fears and self-doubt head-on.

The goal is to give you some tools to recognize your fear and then get inspired to move past it and do things differently so you don’t live in that fear and let it pull you down.

So, grab a notebook to jot down a few notes as it may help you navigate through similar situations when they come up in life or your kids crafting business.

Here are my 5 top tips to overcome the fears that are holding you back:

#1. Understand your fears

Take some time, grab a pen and piece of paper and write down what you feel and try to get to the bottom of what that fear is that holds you back and that makes you feel panicky.  

#2. Be organized

Being unorganized breeds fear. Not having a strategy for your business or prepping properly for a class or party and planning ahead will result in total fear and possible failure. Get organized!

When you are organized and have a strategy in place, then fear is not needed for survival and protection.   

#3. Follow a proven process

Limit your risk by following a process and follow those who have gone before you and achieved success doing what you want to do, don’t reinvent the wheel. If someone has been successful in doing the same thing, follow their advice. 

Complexity is the enemy. Simplify as much as possible and focus on one task at a time. It makes sense to have a map, similar to when you are driving somewhere, there is an optimal  road to follow and it helps to have a GPS or a map.

Have a plan and get rid of that layer of complexity, overwhelm and info overload.

Focus on 1 or 2 steps ahead and just go with that. 

For example, in the Creative Crafting Club membership we have a roadmap called the crafting club owners roadmap, which shows you what to do first, second, third and so forth. Meaning you when you wake up in the morning and know exactly what to focus on. It allows you to cut out all the noise. 

#4. Choose Collaboration over competition

Embrace the mindset of collaboration. This is a mindset that many of our members struggle with, it stems from our roots of being introduced to competition at a very early age. Academics, sport and even games at birthday parties…. We have been brainwashed that there can only be one winner.

I have had members email me saying “oooh no, I just discovered another crafty lady in my town, this is going to ruin my business” and “another lady started selling craft packs at school, this is a disaster”. “How can I stop her from stealing my clients”. The anger and then the fear that if someone else wins, then I will lose. 

Here’s the honest truth: someone else does not have to lose for you to be winning. 

Let me repeat that slowly: someone else does not have to lose for you to be winning. 

There are plenty of customers for everyone.

Applying a mindset of collaboration will allow you to sleep better at night, it will allow you to make friends, work together and you will see that your business will flourish as kids crafting club owners are kind, generous and loving - they are not your competition. Use our fb community group as a starting point and make friends with the other crafting club owners. 

#5. Go for the slow burn

If you are scared for reasons that can have a direct impact on your family and you really can’t take the risk, then don't do it as this will put a stress on you and a strain on your business that is not going to help you experiment and have fun and make those mistakes that you need to make to grow and to flourish. 

For example, don’t quit your day job if you are not ready for it, move slowly, start by asking your boss for one day off per week to pursue your passion or find a part time job if you have to. You don't have to be a full time business owner in the next 2 weeks.

None of us can really ever get rid of our fears, it‘s human instinct - as soon as one fear disappears another one will pop up and hold you back, or maybe your fears will never disappear, and that is also okay.

When failure happens, it hurts! When you put a lot of energy and work in and you don't see the results that you want to see, it may feel that it is too hard. Even the most successful business owners have these feelings. 

Be proud of failing. Look at the action that you took, you took a risk, you tried something new, you innovated and that is something to be proud of. Putting yourself out there is already 90% of your success. You are already a hero, not many people have the courage to take a step.

And then remember, failure is temporary, it's not a permanent state, you will get over it. 

We work with kids on a daily basis in our crafting classes. So as a final note, I want you to embrace the mindset that kids have. They fall, they cry a little bit and get back up and then they try again, they experiment and when they fail, then it’s not a big deal.

Remember that running your own business  is fun, experiment and if you fall, remember that it is okay and normal and get back up, learn from it and try again. Success is in trying and taking action more than in the actual end results. 

It is all about having the courage and being brave to make the decision to not let it stop you.  

So to wrap up, let's do a quick recap on the top 5 tips to not let fear derail and let you get stuck:

• Understand your fears
• Be organized
• Follow a proven process
• Choose collaboration over competition
• Go for the slow burn

So there you have it! 

Now, I’d love to hear from you. 

Let me know what you do to manage to move past your fears? 

Tell me in the comments below.

Lots of love,
Christelle
XO