Dear freelancers,
Today I would like to write about a topic that I am sure moves many of you.
Fear. It comes in many forms. Some people are afraid to start their own business and follow their purpose because they think they are not good enough. Because they think there is no market for their service (let me tell you – there is a market for EVERYTHING…just think of the people who buy worn socks on the internet :-D). That no one will buy their art, their service, their book, in short, their product.
And it’s actually about the fear that you don’t want them as a person. A deep-rooted fear of rejection. Because no matter what we sell. No matter what product or what great service we offer. The actual product is us. WE are being bought. Our authenticity. Our originality. Our brand. Our honesty. Because of the trust people have in us. Because anyone who doesn’t trust you won’t buy your product or service.
No matter how great it is. Every sales pitch. Every pitch. Every offer. The decisive factor is you! And I say that with several years of sales experience. Because I have already sold various products and services very successfully. I was always very good at it for a certain period of time. Until I realized that the product or service didn’t represent any added value for the buyer. That it doesn’t help people. In short – that it was only about money. And I’m too honest for that and money itself isn’t important enough for me. That’s why I couldn’t sell from that point on. I was afraid of ripping people off. The fear of losing my integrity. A well-founded fear. Because my values are important to me.
There are well-founded fears. Because fears are a protective mechanism. It’s right to be afraid of jumping off a cliff because you could injure yourself. With such fears, you should see where you are coming from beforehand. As far as you can. And whether it might make more sense to jump straight down into the water and not take the detour over the cliff 😉
But there are also unfounded fears. And irrational fears. The fear of becoming self-employed is one of them. I’ve always had more of a fear of living a life of mediocrity and regretting that I didn’t live my life to the full. Not having followed my passions. To have given up what brings me joy and fulfills me. I never had a fear of failure. Fortunately, this fear doesn’t exist for me. I always jump in at the deep end and then wonder why it’s cold. That I have to start swimming. That I have to swallow water and cough. But I’ve always grown as a result. And I know that many people don’t jump in at the deep end and miss out on great experiences as a result. I think that’s a shame. That’s why I founded freelanceboosters. That’s why this blog and the community exist.
I have a big request for you…for each and every one of you who are wondering whether freelancing or self-employment is for you and are afraid to take the plunge:
Make sure that your fear doesn’t stop you from living a fulfilled life!
It’s a marathon. Not a sprint. There are no short-term rewards and you will always come up against obstacles. Problems that you must and will solve. And this will make you better at what you do. Because with every obstacle, with every stone on your path to success, you become better at what you do. You grow. Your product or service grows with you. You build momentum and become unstoppable. And if you follow this path long enough and continue to develop, success will come naturally. A nice sentence I learned here is: “I don’t fail. I succeed or I learn.”
Perhaps you are simply afraid of success, as Steven Pressfield writes in his book. What do you think?
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Thank you for your time!
Tobias
“Inner resistance lives from fear. We even experience it as fear. But what are we actually afraid of? We are afraid of the consequences of listening to the call of our heart. Fear of failure, of poverty, of going bankrupt. We are afraid of embarrassing ourselves if we go it alone and of being humiliated if we crawl back to square one after a failure. We are afraid of looking like egotists. Afraid of being bad wives or unfaithful husbands. Afraid of no longer being able to provide for our families. Afraid of sacrificing the dreams of our loved ones for our own. Fear of betraying our ethnic group, our social class, our friends. Fear of failing. Fear of making a fool of ourselves. Fear that our studies, our education and all that our loved ones have given so much for and for which we have worked so hard could be in vain. Fear of the unknown. Fear of the emptiness. Fear of not being able to turn back, of not being able to undo or change anything, so that we have to live with a wrong decision for the rest of our days. Fear of going crazy. Fear of losing our minds. Fear of death.
These are all serious fears. But they are not what we are really afraid of. Because behind them is an even greater fear, the mother of all fears, which is so close to us that we don’t even believe it exists, even if we say its name.
The fear of success.”
Quote from Steven Pressfield’s “the WAR of ART”