Every new beginning is uncomfortable
At a new beginning, it’s normal to feel:
- anxious
- alone
- excited
- overwhelmed
You are not alone in this. EVERYONE feels the same insecurities when starting something new.
Your brain doesn’t like uncertainty and is getting you into high-alert mode. A few thousand years ago, it was a good survival instinct, because you didn’t know what was behind a tree. But now we don’t need that instinct in the modern world anymore.
Those feelings are normal, and they will not stop being there. But we know we will survive that situation and we need to overwrite those negative feelings and do it anyway!
I like to picture those negative feelings as a doubtful person I’m putting in the passenger seat. I’m taking over my life, and I’m driving into uncertainty to grow and improve.
Why we are not taking risks
2024 is the best time to take risks:
- we have a social system that catches you if it goes wrong
- all other needs of Maslow’s hierarchy are met
- we have people around us helping
- we have social media to reach millions of people
There is no excuse why you are not starting this project, why you are not following your passion, why you are not taking a risk.
So why aren’t we taking risks? Do you find yourself in one of those excuses:
- it’s not the right time
- I cannot fail
- What would people think?
- I have a family to nurture
- My job is ok and it’s secure
- I’m too old
- I’m too young
- I don’t have the skills
What I learned from meeting inspiring female entrepreneurs is:
- you can learn anything
- just start
- there’s a support system helping you
We think we need to do it alone. No, we don’t!
We think we need to know everything before starting. No, we don’t!
Stop making excuses and just start!
Overthinking and worrying will not get you there
The biggest challenge I had to overcome was my overthinking and worrying. I was stuck in my head, thinking about everything that could happen and how to react.
Do you know what other people did while I thought about everything?
They just started. They made mistakes. They failed. They learned and got up again.
They took the first steps and are way ahead of me now.
Instead of thinking everything through, making plans, and reading everything you can find: just start!
That’s how you learn!
When you started to learn to ride a bike: did you read books about it and then try to ride downhill? No, because you cannot learn to ride a bike from a book.
The same goes for opening a business, writing, investing,…
Your brain is amazing, but there’s nothing more blocking than being stuck in it.
The mindset to start
I still struggle with my negative mindset. I started writing online around 2 years ago, and I’m still thinking I’m not good at English.
Even though I obviously am because I’m making money with it.
But I still hear the voices of my English teachers giving me a bad grade, and it shaped my mindset.
For more than 2 decades, I’ve been stuck in the mindset that I’m not good with languages: writing, talking, learning new ones…
It’s blocking my online business. But with every small success, I’m working on changing this negative mindset. Because it’s not true anymore.
And those thoughts you have from small traumatic experiences or mean words are keeping you from fulfilling your dreams and following your passion.
In the book “Personality Isn’t Permanent” Benjamin Hardy tells the story of a woman in her 80s dreaming of becoming a children’s book author.
She has so many ideas, but she never fulfilled the dream because in an art class she took in her 20s, the teacher corrected her drawing.
This small (for her traumatic) experience kept her from following her dream.
So what is keeping you from following your dream?
What is blocking you from starting?
And don’t find excuses on the outside. It’s your decision to be influenced by them.
Conclusion
Nobody likes to feel anxious, nervous, or overwhelmed.
So a lot of people are stuck in their boring jobs and mediocre lives.
They never started or took risks because it was uncomfortable.
Instead, they live daily with regrets and thoughts about “what ifs.”.
Taking a risk and starting something new was never as safe as it is today. You have a safety net to catch you if something goes wrong.
What are you afraid of?
Getting out of my comfort zone and posting my writing online was the best and most uncomfortable decision I’ve ever made.
I learned and grew so much. I failed, got up again, and I will continue doing so. Because this is what I want to do: help people with my words and stories.
Take the chance and follow your dream!
This sounds like a motivational cliche sentence, but I want you to do it!
