Today my To Do list put me in a bit of a panic.

I have a couple of big events and projects happening in October and early November, so this morning I spent some time planning out the rest of my month and everything urgent that I needed to get done. 

After I’d put all the various tasks into my calendar and project managed everything I felt pretty good. It all fits. It’s busy but not insane. 

Great!

And then I felt it happen.

A flutter of anxiety that snuck up into my body and whispered…

That’s a lot!

Do you really have enough time for it all?

As I listened to that little voice I could feel myself shrink. A project that felt totally achievable just minutes before suddenly seemed daunting. 

What if it doesn't work?

What if it's not good enough?

I need more time to make it perfect.

Within minutes I’d gone from having a perfectly doable plan to wanting to cancel things, drop out of events and push out my deadlines another month. And if not for the fact that I am well practiced at dealing with those thoughts, that's exactly what I would have done. 

Delayed the projects. Canceled the event. Not showing up to the opportunities.

That my friend is the power of doubt. 

Our mindset is one of the most powerful tools that we have, and if you're not actively using it in an intentional way then it's going to use itself against you. The greatest business strategy in the world cant help you if your own thoughts are slowing you down.

Because it's not that I want to fail or focus on the negatives or the fears. 

My brain is simply designed to do that. 

It’s designed to show me the worst case scenario. 

It’s supposed to argue for NOT doing things that require effort or sacrifice. 

It’s always going to try to give me good sounding reasons to quit. 

That's its job. 

MY job is to see and understand it for what it is, and choose. 

My job is in those moments to learn the skill of being able to see that the creeping anxiety, the playing small is just my brain saying…

“Let’s not do anything that feels scary or takes a lot of effort. Let’s stay small and quiet and safe.” 

and say back to it,

“That wont get me what I want. So I’m doing this. I’ll find a way.”

Then get to work. 

Don’t let your fears run your business!