by Debbie Ruston, Columnist & Featured Contributor
[su_dropcap]H[/su_dropcap]AVE YOU EVER HAD an idea for a business, but talked yourself out of it for one reason or another? Perhaps someone well meaning in your life, gave you advice and you listened to their advice, instead of your own heart. Perhaps you were afraid of failing, or even succeeding and what that would bring with it, and talked yourself out of it. Perhaps you think you have to wait for the perfect time.
Many people go through their entire lives putting things off that are important to them using this excuse. These people tend to feel stressed, unhappy, a lack of control, and unfulfilled, yet don’t realize the cause is they are putting off what they truly want to be doing. I have learned in life and in business, there will never be a perfect time. There will always be something that challenges us, and we think it would just be better, or easier, to wait for that perfect time. When we are young, we can tell ourselves we don’t have enough experience and to wait until we do. By then we have children, and the excuse becomes, we are too busy with the kids, or we don’t have the money needed. Once the kids are old enough, we often have aging parents that we become responsible for. There are births, deaths, illnesses, hobbies, responsibilities. This is LIFE. Successful entrepreneurs learn to work around all of this and don’t wait for that perfect time.
How can we get around this and accelerate the result we truly want?
Make a decision and commit to it. It is the lack of decision and commitment to what you truly want, that causes people to have regrets. Decide what you want, what you need to do to make it happen, and take action.
Don’t let fear stop you. Recognize and identify when fear is getting in the way and take control. Ask yourself better questions…for example, instead of “what if I fail”, ask yourself “what if I succeed, what difference would that make in my life”. When you learn to ask better questions, you find internal motivation and inspiration.
Stop being afraid to take a risk. We are so conditioned to steer clear of risk and there is so much fear built into taking risk in society. EVERYTHING is a risk. Asking someone on a date, falling in love, working a job, driving, everything we do can be considered a risk. RE-frame how you think about risk – I wrote an article about this that may help. As I mentioned, RISK can be reframed to Responsibly Implementing Specialized Knowledge.
Don’t let obstacles get in the way. These could be personal or business related obstacles. The key is not to look at them as a stop sign, but instead, find the way around the obstacle. There is always a solution!
Be solution oriented. As I mentioned, there is always a solution. People become discouraged when they look at challenges as a stop sign. When challenges arise, ask yourself better questions, such as what can I do to get around this? We only find solutions to old challenges by asking better, or new questions, not by rehashing the old.
Surround yourself with positive, successful people that share the same type of vision you have. No one gets ahead by surrounding themselves with those that just want to settle in life….you must be willing to break away from where you are to get to where you want to go. Very often it is the discussions you have with those that are also stuck in life that keep you where you are. If these individuals are settling for whatever comes their way, and complaining about their lack of results, you will find yourself buying into these beliefs. When you surround yourself with driven, successful people, you will gain inspiration from your interaction with them.
Stop using money as an excuse. It isn’t the money that is stopping you. It is the lack of decision, desire and commitment. When something is important enough, you find a way. If you are working a job and your car dies and you need it to get to work, you figure it out….most of us have been there. Why would you go out on a limb to borrow money for a car you can’t afford, to work for an employer that could lay you off, yet you wouldn’t commit to finding a way to raise the funds necessary to start your own business. Start giving yourself a higher level of respect and trust than you give your employer and stop selling yourself short.
Continue to learn & grow. Successful people from all walks of life, continue to learn and grow. The more we work on our minds, the more we open ourselves up to new and exciting options. Those that do not make continued learning a priority are left behind.
There is never going to be a “perfect” time…..the time is perfect when you take action and are willing to do what it takes to create the success you envision.
