What if it doesnt work
As a culture we seem to have this idea that success is something that just happens to us. That it’s something beyond our control.
Yesterday I was coaching a new business owner on some very scary and unexpected things that have happened just a few weeks before the official opening of her new store.
We were working through some of the fears that it had triggered including,
“What if the business doesn't work?”
Because she was afraid she was starting to second guess herself and her decisions. She started to look for ways to minimize everything she was doing because going smaller felt safer.
She started considering canceling contracts for the inventory she was planning to sell in the store.
She talked about letting go of the employee that she had hired to run the store.
She considered delaying the opening of the business.
Her fear was leading her towards doing all things that would result in her business being less successful in its first couple weeks of being open.
As I pointed out to her, “How is the business going to work if you don't have products to sell?”
Fear makes us do some interesting things!
I then asked her
“If I could guarantee that you would eventually succeed, what would you be willing to do?
Her answer…
“I would do whatever it takes. “
Which is so interesting because being willing to do whatever it takes, guarantees success.
I didn’t need to guarantee her success, she could guarantee it herself by never giving up and always being willing to find a way to make things work.
In business, as in life, things don't always go according to plan. The path doesn't always look the way that we thought it would.
What makes the difference between success and failure is what we DO when that happens.
If we listen to our fears, we pull back, we get smaller, we stop doing the things that would actually make a difference. Our brain wants us to hide until it feels like the danger passes.
Hiding and not taking action guarantees our failure.
Learning to trust ourselves and keep moving forward with our plan, EVEN when things feel scary IS the thing that creates our success.
What would you be willing to do if success was guaranteed?
