Fear can be healthy. It can keep you from standing too close to the edge and falling. But fear can limit you as well. It can keep you from pursuing goals and dreams that can make your life more fulfilling. When it comes to working at home, there are many fears people have that prevent them from taking steps to find a work-at-home job or start a business. Some of the most common are:
1. Fear of what people will think. First, people don’t think about you nearly as much as you think they do. Second, who cares what they think? Are they living a fulfilled life? Are they doing the things you want to be able to do? Probably not. And if not, then they aren’t the type of people you should be listening to or worrying about. The best way to get over this fear is to align yourself with people who have achieved or are working on achieving similar goals. Use Facebook and LinkedIn to participate in work-at-home groups. Search Meet-Up for local work-at-home groups. Find a mentor or a coach who can personally guide you through the process and offer the support you need.
2. Fear of failure. Failure is something to fear, but not so much so that it stops you from trying. Instead it should fuel your desire to achieve success. You may have heard the statistics that most businesses fail within the first five years. What you don’t often hear is why. It’s not fate or a random lottery that dooms businesses. Many business failures can be avoided with proper planning and implementation. Action and education are the two ways to overcome the fear of failure. Doing something brings you closer to your goal. Education in the form of reading, seminars, courses, and coaching or mentorship ensures you are taking the right action. Consider to that many of the most successful people also experienced failure, often on a regular basis.
3. Fear of not making enough money to survive. This fear has lost a little of its oomph because jobs aren’t as secure as they used to be. At one time the lure of a stable, well-paying job with benefits outweighed the idea of owning a business in which income is inconsistent. Today, jobs are not secure and many don’t offer perks such as benefits to make the sacrifice worth the effort. In fact, during difficult economic times, many people have saved their financial situations by starting a business or freelancing their skills. The trick to overcoming the money fear is to know what you need to earn to pay the bills, know how much your business costs to run, and add extra as your profit plus another 10% to be safe. Once you have a number, you can calculate what to charge and how many clients or sales you need. From there you determine how many prospects you need to get your business in front of to get the clients or sales you need. Then you start marketing.
While fear can keep you from getting hurt, fear doesn’t always mean “STOP”. Sometimes it’s just a caution sign. The fears listed above are real and should be acknowledged. But they are signals that research, planning and coaching or mentorship are needed to avoid having the fears become a reality.
