How to overcome fears in business and entrepreneurship?
Don't be afraid: the main fears hindering your business
It often happens that a capable person cannot achieve anything either in his personal life or in his career or business because of some fears, persuasion and insecurity. Today we will talk about the most basic fears that can pull you to the bottom, prevent you from fully opening up and using all the possibilities and all the potential to achieve your goals.
So, how do you overcome fear and start doing what you love? Let's figure it out together.
Fear of public speaking
Glossophobes - this is precisely the definition in psychology given to those people who are terrified of speaking in public and avoid it in every possible way. It is noteworthy that the fear of public speaking ranks second in the ranking of phobias, second only to the fear of death.
Special studies were carried out, during which scientists found that during a public speech, a person releases the same amount of adrenaline as during a parachute jump. This phobia is also associated with the fact that in childhood, parents forbid the child to speak, constantly close his mouth and do not listen to his desires. Further, this phobia is reinforced in the school, where teachers criticize the opinions and answers of students, not accepting any answers other than those that suit them. This is how a person develops a fear that no one will be interested in his speech, that he will be “thrown with tomatoes” or something like that.
But we, to a greater extent, are interested not in how this fear is formed, but in how to get rid of it. There are many ways, and one of them is to imagine that you are not conducting a monologue, but simply answering the interlocutor's questions, feeling confident, 100% understanding the topic at hand.
Also, if you do not want the audience to concentrate on you, then try to move the monologue into a discussion stage. You should ask questions to the audience, bring them to the conversation, raise some problem, and ask for a solution to it. Thus, the attention of the audience will be scattered throughout the hall, and not just concentrate on you.
Preparation is another factor that will help you cope with this phobia. You have to be 1000% confident in yourself, and without proper preparation, this is not realistic. In one of our previous articles, Apple Presentation Secrets, we already talked about the fact that professional speakers prepare for a half-hour speech for more than one week, thinking through every detail, every movement, every word spoken.
You can rehearse your performance in front of a mirror, look at gestures, facial expressions, behavior, notice some shortcomings and try to correct them so that everything on stage is perfect. During the rehearsal, you should visualize what success awaits you, present applause, and also practice answers to questions that you may be asked. You can practice speaking in front of a loved one. During a speech, you need to find a person in the audience who is friendly to you and focus on him. Smiling and taking deep breaths can help reduce stress levels.
Fear of Success
Yes, yes, you read everything correctly. And such fear exists. It is the fear of success that does not allow so many talented entrepreneurs to open up "to their fullest." It would seem a paradoxical statement - "you want to succeed, but you are afraid." This phobia is also called the Jonah complex, which was first described by Abraham Maslow. According to the Biblical story, God instructed Jonah to become a prophet and carry the word of God among the people. But he was frightened, considering that he was not worthy of such that he could not bear the burden of responsibility, and fled. Maslow wrote that if you deliberately want to be less successful, do not want to fully open up and achieve maximum success, then this will only bring suffering and unhappiness.
Iona's complex lies in the fact that a person is afraid to realize his abilities to the maximum, afraid to achieve success, believing that he is not so good, that it is beyond his power, that he should be lower than grass and quieter than water. Such people believe that big victories will only bring problems, and if you sit quietly, do not make loud statements and go with the flow, then the likelihood of encountering serious failures is negligible.
We already once wrote an article in which we talked about the psychology of poverty. So, the Jonah complex is closely related to the thinking of the poor. A person chooses a small but stable income, every month he will receive $ 300, but he will not have problems with tax, with clients, with purchases, etc. As a rule, such people are afraid to cross a certain line all their lives, and sit on their “guaranteed and stable” minimum.
Maslow identifies eight behaviors that allow you to overcome the fear of success. He proposes to imagine life as a process of constant choice between advancement and retreat. Any development occurs only after realizing who you are and what exactly you want, therefore it is necessary to separate yourself from the goals imposed by society. The true goal can subconsciously scare you that it will require significant changes in your “I”, but this can only happen when the goal is not chosen by you, but for you.
Fear of failure or negative outcome
The fear of failure is perhaps inherent in most aspiring entrepreneurs. Of course, I have met those who firmly believe in their cause, go to the end and do not believe at all that their undertakings can fail. But there are only a few such people, and most, nevertheless, are afraid of failure. In science, this fear is called atychiphobia. This phobia makes people abandon serious projects, as they do not believe in their success, or rather, they are terribly afraid of the failure of their plans. Fear of failure prevails over potential joy and satisfaction from the result achieved.
Psychologists who are closely involved in this phobia note that the “foundation” for such fears is laid in childhood, when the child receives love and approval only as a result of some success. Such behavior of parents leads to the fact that already at a conscious age a person begins to be afraid of making a mistake, because he believes that this will entail condemnation from society.
This phobia is difficult to overcome on your own, and psychologists advise seeking professional help. Fear of failure is treated by the desensitization method, in which a person is created conditions that are somewhat similar to those that cause a phobia. Only these conditions are more gentle, and are built in such a way that the patient can control fear, manage it.
To be honest, getting rid of the fear of failure is not possible without realizing that failure is part of any business. Nobody is perfect and everyone makes mistakes. Some more, some less, but there are always mistakes.
Fear of change
The fear of change and the uncertainty of what will happen in the future - these are two brothers who always go side by side and do not allow you to live fully. Our brain is designed in such a way that it perceives any changes, positive or negative, as a source of stress and anxiety. And as you know, changes, even the smallest ones, always require some adaptation. The most comfortable state for a person is a stable, predictable routine. It gives people a sense of control. Out of fear of losing control, they subconsciously avoid things that could drastically change their lives. So, for example, they prefer to communicate in a limited circle of people who share their views on the world. They continue in unsatisfying relationships, work at jobs they don't like, because they're afraid to feel like they've wasted their time. Repeating the same thing day after day, they experience an illusory sense of security.
The most comfortable state for a person is a stable, predictable routine. It gives people a sense of control. Out of fear of losing control, they subconsciously avoid things that could drastically change their lives. So, for example, they prefer to communicate in a limited circle of people who share their views on the world. They continue in unsatisfying relationships, work at jobs they don't like, because they're afraid to feel like they've wasted their time. Repeating the same thing day after day, they experience an illusory sense of security.
Fear of making a decision
Many successful businessmen note that if you want to achieve success, you must learn to make decisions, you must understand that this is a big responsibility, but you cannot build a big and strong company without the proper ability. Decidophobia is the name given to the obsessive and panicky fear of making decisions. The reason for this phobia, again, lies in childhood, when parents encouraged the habit of doing like everyone else, not standing out from the crowd, being part of the gray mass. Solving problems on your own fades into the background, and over time causes great difficulties, and even fears.
Articles and problems at a more conscious age can also cause a phobia. A person once decided to make a decision on his own, to do as he wants, and his actions led to very undesirable consequences. As a result, reprimands, big problems or financial losses. And the desire to further make a decision disappears. Decidophobes try to build their lives in such a way that other people make all decisions for them, and they only agree with their opinion. Very often, the behavior of decidophobes is associated with various superstitions and fate. They believe in many beliefs and signs that can deprive them of control over their own lives.
If you think about it, then the choice, in itself, is not the most important moment in solving a particular problem. As a rule, this is only the beginning, from which the fulfillment of the set goals starts. In fact, “the right choice” is a bit of a mythical concept, because you never know in advance which choice will be the right one and what result it will bring. What would happen if you did otherwise? Perhaps the other choice was "correct"? Decidophobes should learn to listen to their own inner voice, to their desires. You also need to understand that most people do not follow your decisions at all, and they deeply do not care how you act in this or that situation. You can make a mistake or succeed, and most of your acquaintances or colleagues will not even know anything. And this is good news.
