Don’t let fear get in the way?

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You’ve been running your business for a while now right? Your turnover has been up and down over the last few months or years, but what you’re doing is what you know works. I get it, a campaign you ran last year successfully just didn’t cut the mustard this year. Those around you are seemingly nailing every angle of their business, they are the epitome of ‘busy-ness’. You are projecting the same image but deep down you have the sinking feeling that something just isn’t quite right.

What you aren’t seeing is that those successful people around you, are often having those same niggling doubts about themselves. It’s completely normal. Those feelings of ‘I fear being successful’ to ‘I can’t do this, I don’t deserve it’, the gut wrenching ‘I hate promoting myself’, the downright self-depracating ‘I’m worthless’. All of these emotions have their place in our journey along this path of self-employment.

All too often it’s not even our jobs that have lead us to have these feelings, our pasts, our childhoods and our relationships have left markings within us which characterise how we deal with situations. I know that many of us, myself included have suffered from a fear of rejection – this can be in relationships or in business. We want to be accepted, we want to be liked. This is one our basic needs as humans as shown in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. After air, water, shelter, food, feeling safe and secure we cannot expect to achieve high self esteem without having met the requirements of feeling loved, having a sense of belonging both within our relationships and our friendships. These are our social needs and sometimes when an element of those are missing we struggle with our self-esteem and self-worth.

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Feeling safe and secure is the 2nd rung in the hierarchy and this element combines our environment – having rules in place to help us feel safe from harm, having an income so that we can pay our rent and mortgages. There’s a reason why Maslow structured his pyramid in the way he did, it simplifies our progression to being truly content – he calls is self actualisation.

 

Take a minute and think about where in YOUR pyramid you might have elements lacking in fulfilment and how those many be having an impact of your day to day life and consequently on your business too. Right now I’m assuming that you are on the right track to achieving rungs 1 and 2, I’m hear to help you work through your fears and doubts so you can move higher up the steps towards self-actualisation.

 

As always life will throw curveballs at us to knock us back down from time to time, I’m a great believer that the more curveballs you encounter the closer to the top of this pyramid you will become. Self-doubt is a negative energy, being proactive is its positive cousin. Being ready to accept your fears and work through them is such a cathartic process, one you should feel excited about.

 

Is Hilary Clinton a good role model?

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Let me get this out there first and foremost, I am not political. Not in the slightest. My parents weren’t political and I guess I grew up believing that my one, solitary vote wouldn’t make a difference. There are still people around me who believe this now. However, I remember being at university and putting the cross in the box for the first time. I felt it was my duty. I haven’t missed an election since and have tried to educate the younger generation around me as to why we should use our vote. I’m not even greatly educated on politicians and will admit to ‘cramming’ my policy knowledge in the week before a big election.

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But who couldn’t be enthralled and drawn in by the US election of 2016? The cartoon character of Trump versus the strong, determined and qualified Hilary Clinton.

As the campaign went on I grew to like Hilary Clinton, she had clearly overcome her husband’s very public infidelity, her policies were ones that made me nod my ahead in accordance, her patience during the presidential debates was admirable (I don’t think I could have maintained my posture as well as she did), she gave me the sense that if she were to become POTUS that all would be good in the world, despite our looming Brexit!

Then we learnt about Weiner, the toerag who scuppered her campaign at the last hurdle. Do i really care that she used a separate server for emails – nope, I do not. Do i feel like the FBI made a huge media circus out of this issue? Yes I do.

I really hoped that Hillary would be successful in her campaign, as most of us did. I listened with empathy when she gave her speech just hours after her defeat and her words directed at young people once again filled me with pride

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“You will have successes and setbacks too. This loss hurts, but please, never stop believing that fighting for what is right is worth it.“

She continues: “And to all the little girls watching this, never doubt that you are valuable and powerful and deserving of every chance and opportunity in the world to pursue and achieve your dreams”

Her concession speech, in my personal opinion was awesome and filled with positivity despite her losing to a muppet! I listened in, almost fist punching the air but the shock of the win forbade me to do so. I could easily quote this to every client I mentor for years to come. Each and everyday we all have fears we need to conquer and setbacks to overcome, but if you believe in it strongly enough then it is definitely worth it. She seemingly wants the best for families, low income families and students, believes in the rights of minority groups – issues i believe are important. She doesn’t come across as a racist either. I would be happy if she were grandma to my son.

BUT…..I’ve since learned that she has also been quoted to have said that you must always have a different professional personality to your private one. Errrrmmm, Hillary….No! Why would she think that? People see through fake. People will only do business with people they feel like they know and trust. Is this her failing? Maybe the folk of America knew this about her and although they didn’t want the foolhardy, bigot of Trump, they voted for a change and against the establishment.

What am I taking away from the presidential race this year?  Hillary, would still be my preferred candidate despite her recent scandals. I still think she is a strong, determined woman with whom I have a shit load of respect for. But perhaps this is just her public persona that I’ve fallen hook, line and sinker for.

Trump, even with all of this sexist, racist,arrogant faux pas I can still learn something from this new leader of world’s most powerful nation. He has shown me that if you, really, truly believe you can do something you must surround yourself with the right people and get yourself on the right path, then ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE! (ignoring that fact that he has shed loads of money to pay people to ‘do things for him’).