Self Doubt,

An Entrepreneur’s Constant Companion

I know that as soon as I publish this post, there will be someone saying that this isn’t true for them.  I maintain that you are either not being true to yourself, or you’re too fool hardy.  Either way, if that’s what you believe, then this post is not for you.  It’s for the rest of us, the dreamers.

Starting a business has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life – it is quite literally, a dream come true.  But that doesn’t mean that it’s been all sunshine and daisies.  Everyone always talks about starting a business, but what about after the paperwork is filed? I’ve been up and running for about six months now and I’ve noticed a few things, about myself and running your own business.

As a sole proprietorship, an LLC, I’m on my own.  I don’t have anyone to share the workload, and accounting or legal department to ask questions, or anyone looking over my shoulder to keep my nose to the grindstone…and not, say making valentine’s day cards for my nieces weeks before they need to be in the mail…But that’s OK.  This si the way that I want it to be, for now.  But with being on your own, and in business for the very fist time, comes uncertainty.  When you experience uncertainty, its not long before it’s buddy doubt comes creeping along to join the party.

This post isn’t an invitation to a pity party for all small business owners.  Now that we’ve recognized that self doubt is a part of being being in business for yourself and by yourself, I want to talk about the way I’ve learned to use this doubt, to turn it into a positive.  Doubt as a positive? It sounds crazy, but if you use it the right way, you can transform doubt from something that cripples you, into something that propels or inspires you.

How to make use of your doubt

If you recognize that doubt is a part of doing business on your own, and you pay attention to the moments when it comes creeping in, you can transform it from enemy to companion.  Doubt, like any other emotion, has triggers.  Something triggers the emotion, and then you feel it.  So instead of pushing away a negative emotion, stop what you’re doing, stop fighting it, and think, what is the trigger? Why am I experiencing doubt right now?

The first few times that I did this, I noticed that my self-doubt was triggered when I was asked by a client to do something new for them.  The key words are, for them.  These are all things that I’ve done before and that I know that I can do.  But it was a new combination, I’m charging a client for a skill that I have, and for the first time, it’s my reputation on the line, not some larger entity or company.  OK, so how does that become a positive?

Establishing a New Pattern of Behavior

Recognizing this trigger, means that you are recognizing a pattern of behavior.  In this case, it could be self sabotage.  You are approached with an opportunity to up-sell a client, your brain goes into overdrive and you experience doubt, so you might stall, make excuses, or even do the work but maybe your doubt inhibits you to do it to the best of your ability.  Now that you know this is happening.  You can work on establishing a new, more positive pattern of behavior.  Now when I’m asked to do something new, or I’m asked for my rates for something, I know to give myself a little pep talk before that doubt has time to set in.  And by the time I’m done with that pep talk, I’ve drafted a response and I’m ready to go.

Taking Your Time, and Improving the quality of the Work

When you are worried bout something because you are doubting yourself, rather than work at your normal speed or rush through it because of the negative emotions you are experiencing.  Take this as an opportunity to slow things down, to take your time and do the job well.  If I’m unsure of the set hours a project is going to take based on my client, their resources and availability, I’ll establish a project rate rather than an hourly rate so that I can take the time I need to deliver the right quality of work.  Putting the time in here and now, will make the next time you approach a similar project easier and a bit faster.

Keep Yourself on Track

Sometimes I doubt whether I can succeed, whether I have what it takes to survive the ebbs and flows that will inevitably happen.  You might think that this makes me unqualified to be in business for myself.  But upon further examination, I’ve realized that I’ve been conditioned through previous jobs to think this way.  I’ve been conditioned to believe that I’m not going to be one of the ultra successful people.  I’ve had 7 jobs in seven years, and I hated most of them.  I had someone one tell me that I run when things get hard.  I would argue that I don’t run from, but move to new things.  Each job has taught me something, about myself, about the way I want to run my business, and about life.  When this doubt first started to rear it’s head, I thought it meant that I would self sabotage and end up working for someone else again.  Now I realize that I’m in uncharted waters.

Someone once told me about a greyhound that they had adopted.  When they train greyhounds to race, they use a felt rabbit to make them run faster and harder to try to catch that rabbit.  They don’t know that they will never catch that rabbit on the track.  When this particular greyhound was adopted, it saw a rabbit and gave chase.  To its surprise it caught the rabbit, and then laid down unsure of what to do next because its drive for its whole life had been to catch that rabbit.  I am that greyhound.  I’ve lived my adult life trying to find a way to become my own boss because every job that I had left me unfilled.  Now that I am my own boss it’s like I don’t know what comes next.  That greyhound and I now have a new slate, a chance to write our own story.

I still feel that doubt, but now that I know it better, it’s really fear of the unknown.  Instead of letting those emotions control me, I use them as motivation to keep going, to stay on track and get the work done.