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Introduction
Everyone has fears and this is inevitable. It is part and parcel of life. However, what separates the winners from the masses who fail is the ability to acknowledge one’s fears and push through them.
While conquering one’s deepest and darkest fears is not easy, it is definitely worth the effort. As an online marketer, there will be times when the skies seem gloomy and you wonder if it will all work out.
Financial insecurities, temporary setbacks and the usual challenges that life throws at you can be daunting. The majority of beginners will throw in the towel and quit the moment the going gets tough.
They falsely believe that they don’t have what it takes to succeed or the journey is just too tough for them. They fear the ‘hard yards’ and the travails that must be endured for one to see success. They quit out of fear. But you’re different because you know better. When it comes to fear, you really only have 2 choices.
1. Forget Everything And Run
Or
2. Face Everything And Rise
The choice is quite obvious. While the first one will be easy, it will leave you stranded in the muck and mire of mediocrity. Your dreams and goals will die from strangulation by fear. Choose the second option and you will push past your fear with grim determination. When you come out on the other side, you’ll be emotionally stronger, mentally tougher and you will taste the fruits of success. There is no other way.
You only have 2 options. Choose the second one. Everything you want is on the other side of fear. In this guide we’ll look at 5 of the most common fears that plague most online marketers and how you can calm your beating heart.
1. Fear of the Unknown
This is probably one of the biggest fears that entrepreneurs face. When you’re starting your own business, while you may have done your homework and prepared the best you can, there will ALWAYS be a certain degree of uncertainty.
That’s just the way it is. You must always remember that you can’t discover new lands if you’re afraid to lose sight of the shore. You have to push through and go with your heart, even if it’s beating uncontrollably fast.
Sometime in 1999, there was a movie called "3 Kings”. In one scene in the movie, a young soldier who was feeling afraid would approach Sergeant Major Archie Gates (George Clooney) with a question and he'd reply... "The way this works is... You do the thing you're scared sh*tless of and you get the courage after you do it. Not before you do it." This is very true and it applies across the board. If you’re worried that you may not have the skills to create an online business, go ahead and do it anyway. Then learn as you go along.
You must have the faith to take the first step even when you can’t see the whole staircase. The best way to put an end to your fear of the unknown is to have faith. You must believe in yourself and what you’re trying to achieve. There are thousands of people who come online in droves hoping to make quick and easy money. Most of them fail and quit. The road to online success is paved with the corpses of the many who have tried and quit.
They quit because they didn’t believe in themselves and they let fear take over. Like John Stewart Mill said, “One person with belief is equal to a force of ninety-nine who only have interest.” The next time you have doubts and fears, ask yourself why you’re feeling them. Maybe you’ve been making a stable income online but you’re worried about quitting your day job because of the security it provides.
By asking yourself why you have this fear, you’ll understand that what you really fear is that you might have no money in case your online business dries up. Now you will be able to make plans such as saving up enough money that will last you six months in case of any unexpected setbacks. This is a plan of action. If you do not analyze your fears and all you do is let them control you and hold you back, your life will become stagnant and in almost all cases, there will be retrogression. The only way to progress is to keep moving forward whether or not you have fears.
2. The Fear of Failure
This is another major fear that paralyzes so many marketers from
taking action on their goals and dreams. The fear of failure has
stopped more people in their tracks than any other fear.
Usually this fear is disguised in many different ways. If you worry
that all your efforts will go to waste when your online efforts earn
you no money, that’s a fear of failure. Most people say that they
just ‘don’t want to waste their time on something that won’t
work.’
The hard truth is that you’ll never know unless you try. It may
take you 3 years to build an online business that’s making you six
figures a year. But guess what? If you don’t try because you’re
scared that you will fail, the time is going to pass anyway.
The 3 years will go by and chances are your life will probably be
the same. Whereas if you had moved forward with your goals,
you just might be in the six figure income category.
A lot of people fear failure because it will make them look foolish
in front of their friends and family. They do not want to endure
criticism or sneers from their peers.
This fear is really unnecessary. What others think of you should
be the least of your concerns. In fact, you may notice that when
you try to better yourself and do things that others don’t do, your
friends and family will probably be your hardest critics and they’ll
call it ‘concern’ or ‘tough love.’
The truth of the matter is that you making progress and
achieving your goals shines a spotlight on their failures. It makes
them feel threatened and the only way for them to feel better is
to drag you down to their level so that the status quo can be
maintained.
This is life and by understanding that what others think of you is
none of your business, this fear of looking foolish will disappear
all on its own.
Lao Tzu once said, “Care about what other people think and you
will always be their prisoner.”
The best way to deal with the fear of failure is to ask yourself
what could possibly go wrong. Now plan out what
countermeasures you can take to prevent your endeavors from
failing.
Spend time visualizing yourself pushing past obstacles and
succeeding. Repeat this visualization process daily… and even a couple of times a day. This will give you faith and belief in
yourself to keep going forward.
3. The Fear That You Are Not Good Enough
This fear arises when one has failed several times throughout life.
Many people do not do well academically while in school because
they had no natural affinity to the subjects they were learning.
The girl who was gifted at art probably failed at math and science
and couldn’t go further than high school. This failure may make
her feel like she can’t succeed at anything in life… even though
she has all the potential to be a successful artist.
The very wise Albert Einstein once said, “Everyone is a genius.
But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its
whole life believing that it is stupid.”
The point of that statement is that one should not judge
themselves based on how they performed in school or previous
jobs.
There are countless stories of people who failed many times and
finally succeeded beyond their wildest dreams once they found
their true calling. Never give up on yourself. Fortune favors the
bold.
Usually when you’re trying to build an online business, there will
be a learning curve that you’ll have to go through. This is
inevitable.
You will make mistakes. You will buy products that are rubbish…
And you will waste time and money. This too is normal and can’t
be avoided. However, if you quit while at this stage because you
feel like you’re not good enough, you will NEVER get better.
You only get better as you keep learning and progressing. Many
beginners look at the expert marketers and feel intimidated. They believe that the other guys are smarter, richer and better than
them.
Do not compare yourself with others. This is a huge mistake and
will always leave you feeling discontented. You may be comparing
your beginning with someone else’s finish. It’s not fair to you and
you’ll be doing yourself a disservice. All you need to do is focus
on being the best that you can be.
Here’s the truth. Everybody started off as a beginner. You do not
become successful overnight. There is a journey that you have to
go through and go through it you must.
Fearing that you’ll never amount to much will mean that you have
given up before you even started. You must have confidence.
Chalk up every little failure that you encounter along the way as a
learning experience. You can’t extrapolate from incomplete data.
The more you learn, the better you’ll get.
The more mistakes you make, the better. Failure is not the
opposite of success. It is a part of success. You are good enough.
You’ve always been. You just need to believe it.
4. The Fear That You’re Late or Too Old
This is another big one. You may have heard terms like ‘Article
marketing is dead… or ‘The good ol’ days are over’… ‘You’re too
old to start a business’… But are these statements even true?
Of course not. While some methods may come and go, building a
business online is here to stay and every single day there are
people reaching their income goals. It’s never too late to start
and now is as good a time as any.
You’re also never too old to set new goals or dream new dreams.
Stan Lee created his first hit comic close to his 39th birthday.
Henry Ford was 45 when he created the Model T car. Ray Croc
only started MacDonald’s at the age of 52 and Colonel Sanders
was 62 when he franchised KFC.
As you can see, people have succeeded in life at all ages. You’re
never too old. So cast this fear aside and pursue your dreams
today.
"The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best
time is now." – Chinese proverb
5. Limiting Beliefs
Just when you were expecting another fear, you’ve been hit with
‘limiting beliefs’... It may be surprising but it’s true. There are
many people who have been held back from success because of
their own beliefs.
There is an emotional disconnect within them. The reason for this
is that while growing up, we formed our beliefs based on what we
saw, what we heard and what we were told.
One good example will be overweight people who feel like they’re
‘destined’ to be fat. Their parents, siblings, relatives and
everyone close to them is overweight so they buy into the story
that they are naturally predisposed to obesity.
While to a certain extent it could be true because some people
have a naturally slower metabolism, the truth of the matter is
that food choices, eating habits, attitudes towards food, etc. are
often passed down from parents to the kids.
Because of this, all they ever knew about food and eating is what
they saw and heard. If they decided to eat clean, exercise more
and watch their calories, they’d definitely lose all the excess
pounds and probably end up being the leanest person in their
family.
But getting to this stage requires one to overcome their limited
thinking and believe that they are worthy of success.
The same applies to people who grew up in poor families where
the parents made it look like money was hard to come by or that
rich people were evil and greedy… while poor people were
generous and kind.
With beliefs like these, their subconscious mind will not allow
them to build wealth because they wouldn’t want to be evil and
greedy, would they?
Overcoming your limited self-beliefs is a Herculean task but it can
be done. You will need to be proactive and actually be alert to the
way you think and correct yourself.
Once you realize that your only limit is you, your life will change
and you will conquer this obstacle. You are worthy of success.
Conclusion
By now you’ll realize that fear is false evidence appearing real.
The best way to conquer fear is through action. Analyzing whyyou feel the way you feel is helpful… but nothing beats action
when it comes to dispelling fear. Do what you fear most and the
fear will vanish.
Never let your fear decide your future. Make a good plan, have
contingencies in place and work your plan till you succeed. Even
during the darkest hours when everything around you may feel
like it’s all about to collapse and all your fears are telling you that
you’re about to fail… dig your heels in and keep pushing forward.
It’s always darkest before the dawn. Keep going.
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