Episode 58 | 5 Steps to Managing Fear in Business

Sophia Noreen: Hello everyone. Welcome to another fantastic episode of the Boss It Podcast. My name is Sophia Noreen, and I'm going to be your host for today. And today, we're going to get really deep. We are going to be speaking about the fear of starting a business. We may have alluded to this topic in the past because fear is such a big topic when it comes to starting anything, let alone, a business. And for many people who do start businesses, they are riddled with fear. I feel like unless you grew up in a household that is used to taking that level of risk, or unless you have a mentor who's there to guide you along the way, or unless you're really wealthy and you can lose the money that you're deciding to put into a business, you generally will have some level of anxiety or nervousness. And that can definitely railroad a lot of people when it comes to executing their plans. I feel that when people have fear, they have a lot of difficulty labeling exactly what that feeling is. 
 
A lot of the time I feel that the fear of will shows up as anxiety. It will show up as procrastination. It can show up even as sadness and depression. And so it's really, really vital for you to identify if it is actually the fear behind those other feelings of anxiety and depression and acts of procrastination that could be causing all of those results. So I have a couple of tips that I want to share with you today on how to at least acknowledge the fear and perhaps even combat the fear.  
 
So the first tip is to acknowledge the feeling of fear. Acknowledging it and understanding that fear is a vital component of being human and for survival. You need to be fearful because our ancestors had to be fearful. If they were not fearful, then they would have never survived. And so, being fearful when it comes to business is normal. I think if you can say to yourself that this sensation of anxiety, this sensation of procrastination, this sensation is perhaps fear and I should acknowledge it for what it is, and it's fear. So if you can understand that the fear exists and you acknowledge it rather than avoiding it, or perhaps denying it, and you say, yes, it is fear. That's the first step.  
 
The next step really is to go ahead and name it. Name it, fear. Name it for what it is. Don't make excuses up for it. And when it comes to the psychology of six human needs, two of the needs are certainty and uncertainty. So every human needs a certain level of certainty. So you're certain that you have a roof over your head. You're certain that you have clothes on your back and a certain level of uncertainty. So for example, in the pandemic, you may have noticed that there were a ton of TikTok videos. And one of the reasons that occurred was because people were at home on their board, so they needed the variety. So variety is like uncertainty. They didn't need to be sitting around all day staring at Netflix. They needed some variety. So they started to naturally go on TikTok and scroll and scroll and scroll.  
 
So when it comes to starting your business, it's a very uncertain time. And because it's so uncertain, your level of uncertainty obviously is going to be compromised. You're going to feel more uncertain. The more uncertain you feel, the more likely the triggers will go off and you will be feeling more and more fearful. That is the next phase.  
 
So after you have acknowledged that it is fear, you've labeled it as fear. You're not ignoring it. The next phase is that you will then go ahead and figure out what's triggering that fear. Now, if you are starting the business, it could be the fear of losing money. It could also be the fear of not having a stable surrounding. It could also be that you don't have a stable team. You don't have colleagues. You may be working as a solopreneur for a while, and you don't have the support of a community or it could be that the fear of rejection. You could be fearful that nobody in your niche is going to accept you as being either a service provider or a product traitor or even somebody who is an expert in that niche. 
 
Understanding what is triggering your fear is extremely important when you're going through this exercise. Of course, acknowledging is important. Naming is important. But when it comes to the trigger, that will reveal a lot about what is causing that fear. And why is it causing you to either procrastinate or why is it causing you to feel anxious or depressed? You need to be able to really understand what is triggering you. What is it that is causing that level of fear? What is a trigger that is making you feel like you cannot proceed with your business? And so, once you really dial in and you say, okay, it probably is the fact that I'm scared of losing money. Or it probably is a fact that I feel that I'll be rejected. Or I'm just afraid of failure in general. I'm afraid that I'm going to put my heart and soul into something. This business, for example, and it's going to fail. So why bother trying? Those are the things that you need to go through. You need to understand what is causing that trigger.  
 
And then the next step, step number four would be then for you to go ahead and look at the trigger and understand, is this trigger actually something for me to be fearful about? For example, the fear of losing money. Of course, as humans, we have the innate instinct to be fearful so we survive. And we spoke about that a few minutes ago. So now, let's change it so that there's no lion chasing after us. But I'm afraid my bank balance is going to go to zero. What is the worst that's going to happen? I have no money. I can reframe it and say, well, at least I know that I tried to follow the dream that I had, like the sign behind me. This direction. If you guys are watching the video, you can see even pointing to the sign above me. And it says, "In the end, we only regret the chances we didn't take." So reframing my zero bank balance to be like, well, it was like me taking an experience through the journey of business. 
 
And I'm not saying that you should be flippity with your money and you should just throw it around. I'm just telling you that this is a great way of reframing the circumstances that are triggering your fear. You can do this with everything. Any of the triggers, you can reframe it and twist it and say, okay, well, I am fearful of rejection. But why do I care so much about what they are rejecting? Why do I care about their opinion? What really matters is that I am not serving everyone, I'm only serving a certain segment. So you have to really understand that not everyone is going to accept you when it comes to business. Not everyone is going to say, wow, she's amazing or wow, he's amazing. And there was a big chance that you could have a zero bank balance at one point or another. When you reframe those two examples and you say, I at least took the chance. And the other reframe for not being accepted by everyone is, I'm not serving everyone in any way so it doesn't matter. In the end, if that one or two individual trolls me on the internet.  
 
We hear all the time these big YouTube stars, the podcast stars, they're all going through the same stuff. They do get trolled, and it really bothers them. But if they just reframe it and be like, well, whatever. That person obviously has an opinion of me, who cares? The opinion is just an opinion. I'm not dying. There is no lion after me. Back in the day when we were hunters and gatherers, our hindbrains had to be adapted to those risks. Obviously, the fear had to be instilled so we would survive. Now, the fear is really not life-threatening. 
 
So the fourth step is, once you reframe your trigger, then you are going to dial it down. You're going to say, okay, my fear is 10 out of 10. I'm extremely, extremely scared to move forward in this business because I don't want to lose my $10,000. But the reframe is, well, if I don't take this risk in business, I will never know what I'm capable of. It could be something that will open up wonderful opportunities and experiences for myself and for my friends and my family. And I won't know unless I try. And as the quote says right behind me, "In the end, we only regret the chances we didn't take." 
 
So that is a great reframe. And then we say, okay, that's great. The worst that can happen is that I lose those $10,000 but at least I gained experience. I probably will gain some great wisdom from going through a business plan of some sort. And I will also likely make friends along the journey. And all of those are vastly more important than a few dollars. So again, I'm not saying to be loosey-goosey with your money. But I'm just saying that this is a great reframe. And then by reframing it, you are dialing down the fear. It's not life-threatening and there's no lion that's coming at you which could present as anxiety.  
 
And then the fifth step is to, of course, be compassionate to yourself and to others. When you are starting anything new, it doesn't matter if it's a new weight loss challenge, a new job, a new class, a new school, you could be starting a new relationship. It doesn't matter. The fear will be there. And that is something that is extremely difficult to shake off. Of course, going through all those steps we described so far: acknowledging the fear, of course, labeling the fear, figuring out what the trigger is, and then dialing the trigger down by reframing it. The fifth step would be to say to yourself, everyone has that fear. It is normal to be fearful. If I didn't have this level of fear, I likely wouldn't be a human. That is the rawest I can get because it is a human instinct to have fear. And you will be fearful, your family members may be fearful, your best friend could be fearful, your dog could be fearful if they could actually acknowledge and interpret what you were planning on doing. It is a normal human function. And when you're fearful, you can be more compassionate to others who may be feeling the same, So it helps you build that empathy. You can empathize now with somebody who went through something similar. So in my circumstances, I have a product-based business, and this topic of fear is very appropriate right now because we are going through a season of uncertainty, as I would like to say because we're starting a new product line. So we're starting a new line in a new space. We are going in and we're going to be providing products for Diwali. Diwali Is a south Asian festival, and this is our first time supplying products for this festival. We have an ambassador who has actually been on our show before. Gunjan from Clutcheeet, and of course, tag her so you can check her out on Instagram. But she is the ambassador for that program. And the fear for me, and this is me getting really raw with you guys is that, I won't have a hundred percent control of the program, and how it is presented because this is my first time letting a team member come in and take care of the program. And of course, I don't follow the faith base that celebrates, Diwali.  

And so because of that, I don't have as much insight into what the customer needs and wants. 
 
So now, I need to trust my team member to portray the products in the best fashion for our customers at alsosophia.com. And so that is fearful. I have a little bit of anxiety. And that anxiety is based on fear because I have a level of uncertainty now around the program. And so, I have to acknowledge that. I have to say, that's what it is, that's why I'm feeling that way. And then I have to definitely reframe it and say, okay, well, the reason I'm feeling that way is that I've never done it before. But because I have the best team member possible to help me execute this plan, and she is of course, of the faith-based and the community, she can definitely feel what the customer needs because she is the ideal customer. And so by reframing, it's like saying, this is a great opportunity. It is new. It is uncertain. But it's going to be great.
 
 And so by doing that, it is going to help me then go ahead and dial down the fear. So now, I'm basically able to talk myself out of the fear. I can drop my anxiety level down because that's generally how my fear is portrayed through a heightened level of anxiety. And of course, I'm acknowledging that anxiety. Because sometimes that anxiety is trying to tell you something. The fear is trying to tell you something. So of course, not ignoring it, but staying in tune with what are the reasons you may be feeling that way. And so after talking myself through it, it's because I have not done that before. We have not had a team member join our team to be able to execute in that manner. 
 
Now, we're at a different level, and that's scary. And that's new. This is me, running through this exercise of the five steps: being able to acknowledge the feeling, being able to identify the feeling, being able to name the feeling, then going ahead and reframing the feeling. And then finally, being compassionate to the feeling to myself and saying, yes, I am human. I had the right to feel fear and anxiety when I'm approached with something new. But again, in business, that's what the game is. So bringing it back to you, if you are looking into starting a business or you're starting or you've started a business and you have that level of fear, that's normal. If you didn't have it, it would be concerning on some levels. Because then you're wondering, okay, well, it's new. You should have a little bit of fear attribute to it because it's new. So being just compassionate, and allowing yourself to feel it is really important for step number five. And not shaming yourself.
 
Shame is a really deep topic, so we won't touch on it here. But sometimes people are F shame They don't want to feel the fear. They see everybody else on YouTube or Instagram or Pinterest or Tiktok, and they're like, well, they started it. Why can't I? And then they go through this cycle of shame. So we're not going to go into shame, but that's a really important topic that I think many of us hit because we start feeling shame when it comes to fear. And by being compassionate to yourself and to others, you're less likely to feel that way. 

Okay, that was a heavy, heavy podcast episode regarding fear because I swung in another direction there at the end with shame. But again, I'm going to go through the five steps so you are able to use this exercise when you need it.  
 
So the first step was to acknowledge the feeling of fear. The second step was to understand that you are going to need to name the fear. So if it's anxiety that's creeping up, dial back and see if it's fear. And then the third step, of course, is to figure out what's the trigger for the fear. The fourth step is to reframe the trigger. So if it's money, reframe it and say, it's not a tiger. It's not a lion. It's not going to eat me. And that's again, a very, very basic example, so use a reframe. And then the fifth, of course, is to be compassionate to yourself and to others. There's no need to be shameful when it comes to fear because it's a normal human attribute.  
 
Okay, I hope this was helpful. In the show notes, we'll have some more information about the five steps. Try it, see if it helps. Especially if you're the individual that doesn't push forward very quickly because you're stuck because of fear. freeze and you procrastinate and you know things need to get done, but you don't want to do it. And it can go align with anything, anything in your life. This exercise is for anything. It can be for weight loss. It could be for marital relations. It could be for parental relations. It could go along with the business. You could use this for anything. So I do highly encourage you to look at this exercise, be kind to yourself, and I really, really, really hope it's helpful. 
 
Again, you can always email us at [email protected]. And remember, you can make a plan and take action, and yes, you can have it all. We will see you guys again next week, same time, same place. Bye for now.