One of the biggest challenges facing entrepreneurs is their own thoughts. Self-doubt, not living up to your own expectations and comparing yourself with others are all examples of thoughts that can poison the entrepreneur. Entrepreneurs seem more prone to these thoughts because they are usually doing something new that lacks an existing support system and definitely doesn’t come with a rule-book. Everyday, budding entrepreneurs have to wake up and make up their own rules, their own schedules, and their own goals. You can see how this constant creating and forging of a new path means making lots of mistakes and causes frequent self-doubt and fear of failure.
For example, one of the thoughts that entrepreneurs are all too familiar with is: Am I doing this right? Well, there’s usually no right answer to this question. In our day and age, where new technologies are creating completely new ways of doing business, the true and tried way of doing things doesn’t work as well anymore. Sure, there is some wisdom that can be learned by others who have done similar things in the past, and I encourage all entrepreneurs to read and learn about leadership, business development, and examples of why other businesses succeeded or failed. Three great books to start with are Good to Great by Jim Collins , Rich Dad’s Before you Quit your Job by Robert Kiyosaki, and True North by Bill George.
But you can read all the books in the world about being an entrepreneur and they won’t give you the answers to the unique challenges that will face you along your entrepreneurial journey. And this is where the entrepreneur’s worst enemy comes in – negative thinking. Negative and judgmental thoughts can mean the difference between learning from your mistakes and trying again (which is the fuel of successful entrepreneurs) or just giving in to self-doubt, becoming paralyzed and eventually giving up .
Yes, it’s easier to work for someone else doing something you don’t care about because your day is usually planned out for you, you probably won’t fail as often, and you’re going to get a steady paycheck. Many people opt to take this route and they end up really enjoying their weekends. Clearing your own path as an entrepreneur takes not only hard work in the business sense, but it also takes hard work on your personal development. For most entrepreneurs, heck for most people in general, there won’t be an external source that consistently gives you validation and support and tells you, hey, you’re doing a great job, keep it up! But relying on this external validation is especially dangerous for entrepreneurs who generally don’t find external support when they are just starting out. That’s why it’s so important for entrepreneurs to find introspective strategies to defeat their negative judgemental thoughts.
I’ve found Byron Katie’s introspective strategy The Work to be tremendously helpful and effective in tackling negative thoughts. The first step is to become aware of how you feel. If you’re feeling anxious or upset, try to decipher what thoughts are causing you to feel this way. For the entrepreneur, these thoughts may take the form of: I don’t know what I’m doing, I don’t know enough or have the talent to succeed, I should be making more money, no one’s ever going to pay me for what I do, I’m wasting my time, and the list goes on. Next, write those thoughts down – this takes them out of your head and puts them where you can see them for what they are, just thoughts. Once you’ve written your thoughts down, ask yourself, one by one, are they true, are they absolutely true? Can you find one example where those thoughts would not be true? Then ask yourself, how does having this thought make me feel? As an entrepreneur, your negative thoughts may paralyze you, make you afraid to fail, make you want to retreat, stop what you’re doing and give up. Then, and this is my favorite part – ask yourself, how would it feel like if this thought didn’t exist? This is the step where you can make your negative thoughts actually disappear! If you do this step sincerely, you’ll feel amazingly free and joyful. You’ll in essence get back in touch with your passion, your drive and the reasons you became an entrepreneur in the first place. To get the complete instructions on how to do The Work, get it from the horse’s mouth and make sure to visit Byron Katie’s website.
What are some of the negative thoughts you face as an entrepreneur? Leave me a comment!
Taz…this post about entrepreneurial paralysis couldn’t have come at a better time!!! Thank you so much.