Wrestling The Fear Monkey
When you launch a business you get to face your fears. If it's
your first company, if it's your 14th business, you will have to
cope with fear. Even if you don't face your fears, they'll sneak
in while you're sleeping, while you're driving down the street.
Sometimes they come in simple and familiar forms - that little
thought that screams in the back of the mind: "What on earth
made me believe I could DO THIS!" Other times the fear slowly
seeps in while you're not paying attention, a peculiar feeling
of dread that begins about an hour before you wake. It's not
quite a nightmare, just a dull-gray sense of dread.
Usually the fear subsides in the exhilaration and thrill of
new-business activity. During the day - as you cram 20 hours of
effort into 10 hours of work - fear doesn't have much of a
chance to squeeze its way into your frenzied brain. But in those
quiet moments of down time - while you're waiting through a long
light on your way to Staples, you can feel the fear return, a
nervous, painful tingling feeling in your arms and chest.
One of the odd things about this natural experience is that it
seems so absolutely personal. When you're in the middle of an
entrepreneurial fear-grip, it's hard to imagine anyone else has
ever felt this way. It's not really panic. It's not quite self
doubt. It takes a form of interior monolog, much like this: "My
goodness, I can't believe how fast I went through my seed
capital. It was supposed to last 8 months. It only lasted three.
What am I going to do?"
Those thoughts go into the brain and set up home. Those thoughts
can become your dominant thoughts for weeks. Then it becomes
even more specific: "How am I going to pay the rent? I don't
know if I can make the next payroll."
Most of us think we can avoid these nasty crunches when we
launch a company. Or else we wouldn't launch the company. We
have momentary doubts. But generally we think we will do ok.
It's the same feeling you have when you get in your car to go
shopping. You're reasonably sure you won't get into an awful car
crash on the way.
But all entrepreneurs run out of money. Or at least all of the
entrepreneurs I've ever met. I read an article in "Inc."
magazine during my first year in business. The article claimed
that all launch entrepreneurs run out of money, and that you
can't learn how to run a business until you go bust and start
getting very, very creative. That was one dreary article. I read
it at a time when my bank account was just about completely
depleted.
The article was deadly accurate. And fear soon became a very
close friend. But the fear was not a useless, debilitating
emotion. Fear motivates. As my fears deepened, I found I was
more fearful of failing than I was of cold-calling the next
potential client. I became more fearful of disappointing family
members who depended on me than I was fearful about calling a
client who was late on a critical payment. As uncomfortable as
it may be, fear becomes a fierce clarifier. It can help you
straighten out your priorities before you go bust.
I can't imagine succeeding in a business without the power of
fear. Without the pure energy of sustained terror, why on earth
would you stay up nights struggling to come up with solutions?
When you're relaxed, you don't turn yourself inside out to
become more effective. You don't grow.
When you're worried to death over your business, it's small
solace to recognize that your fears can guide to toward success.
Mostly you just want to find some friendly shore, some relief.
But fear does indeed guide and motivate. Bless those nasty
feelings that grip you by the throat. They push you toward
forward toward success.