If you are trying to grow your business, how willing are you to be vulnerable and let your humanity shine? When you let yourself be vulnerable and share your true you and your true heart, people respond.
People don’t want perfect. Perfection is irritating. I admit that I have a strong perfectionist streak in my personality. I know I have irritated myself and my family at times. I decided I had to get over it.
What does perfectionism do for me and you? It gives us a reason to procrastinate. We say, well, “I haven’t landed on exactly the right idea” or “I am still thinking about it.” We then do not take bold action or build momentum.
The truth here: the four words that kill your success in life and biz- “I think I’ll wait.”
Imperfect action is beautiful and bold. It builds momentum and you learn how to be even better through doing and giving your best effort without worrying about things being absolutely perfect.
Throughout my career and operating my business, I had to learn to be okay with and embrace beta tests and be okay with version 1.0, etc. That’s when I grew the most when I made that shift to taking inspired action. If I didn’t learn how to take imperfect action I would still be back in 2007 when I first had the idea to start my company. Instead of just thinking about it, I acted. When I got the idea to start, my website was up within a few days and I was off and running. I was in business, even though I still had a lot to learn.
How are you feeling about your growth and your own action steps? Take a few minutes and write your thoughts down in a journal.
Big Idea: Do the thing that scares you.
If you want to get momentum going, do the thing that seems scary. Fear keeps many people from doing what they really want to do. Most of the time, the fear is completely unfounded. Your fear in your life is exactly what is keeping you right where you are. Your true success is beyond the fear that you feel. When you act in spite of fear or decide that you are going to let go of fear and finally do what you want to do, you unleash your true power.
Recently, one of my clients tackled her fear by making a fantastic video for her company. She is introverted and being on video seemed scary and unnerving, but she did it and it turned out great.
Another one of my clients knew that in order to grow her business, she needed to get her message out, but she was consumed with fear of making a mistake and was swallowed up in perfectionism so she would delay or say no to speaking opportunities. She then decided this is it… and she scheduled some interviews and practiced recording her voice. She did it. She did the thing that scared her.
And yet another client took a leap in expanding her business by opening a brick-and-mortar store in a prime location so she could feature her signature products. What do all of these examples have in common? Each person had fears and reasons (excuses) not to take action, and then they all mustered up the courage to do the thing that scared them.
7 proven ways that will ease you into doing something scary:
- Make a list of all the reasons why it is important that you do the scary thing. Knowing your why acts as a powerful reminder and will keep you motivated and moving forward.
- Write down the worst thing that could possibly happen. Could you handle it? This step is surprisingly effective. Instead of pushing down your fears, you look at the worst case scenario. Everything is brought out in the open for you to explore.
- Notice if you have a similar pattern in life… does the same type of action seem to be scary? Is there some story from childhood that put that pattern in motion… Can you see that you were a child then? You are an adult now with an entirely different skill set. Look at the same story through the eyes of an adult. What changes?
- Set a deadline to take action. How often have you finished things the night before a deadline? Deadlines drive action. If you think you have all the time in the world, you will act like you have all of the time in the world. Deadlines give a sense of urgency.
- Start some piece of the action. For example, gather the intel and the supplies. You can even pick the smallest part of the project. Just starting is the beginning of momentum.
- Enlist support from friends, colleagues, a coach, or a mentor. It’s tough to feel like you are doing it alone. It can be isolating. When you involve other people, you can tap into their energy, too. This also creates accountability if you choose your support wisely. Only choose friends who will be truly supportive and not the friends that will accidentally sabotage your efforts.
- Reflect on all of the times in your life when you did something that scared you. What was the big win in doing it? When you see big wins in doing something that is intimidating, you find the courage to do it no matter what.
If you take these steps, you will ease some of the pressure you might feel when you take an action that scares you. However, there will likely be some tangible feelings like a lump in your throat, sweaty palms, or a nervous flutter.
You can learn to embrace these feelings and see them as a sign that you are stepping into something bigger and bolder.
If you liked this, you will probably love my free Bucket List Masterclass
Sheri Kaye Hoff, is a Transformational Business Coach known for inspiring, intuition, vision, and massive action, and being a catalyst for personal and business growth, joy, and profits in a way that is fun, relaxing, and fulfilling. She uses both spiritual and practical techniques to obliterate blocks and create transformational change. Sheri is a business, leadership, happiness, and inner game expert. She has overcome nearly dying and has made it her life mission to share the keys to happiness and success. Learn More About Sheri
