A few people decided to opt out of the jump after the presentation. They
allowed fear to drive their decision. I was scared, but decided to jump
having faith that my parachute was packed correctly and I would make it to
the ground safely.
The experience was exhilarating and those who stayed on the ground wanted
to know how it was. I found it difficult to describe the rollercoaster of
emotion that wound through me on the plane ride up, while standing at the
end of the plane with my toes over the edge, the jumping, the free falling,
the yank back up when the air caught the parachute and then the peaceful and
relaxed floating.
But even harder to describe was the leap I made inside myself about being
able to do anything. By making a faith-based decision, I allowed myself to
grow from experience.
Those who made the fear-based decision felt nothing but fear.
Being a new business owner is a lot like skydiving in the sense that you
are taking calculated risks daily that run you through a flurry of emotions
before landing on the ground or getting to the outcome. Resilience is needed
to weather these frequent storms. Unfortunately, I am currently seeing a lot
more fear-based decision making with some of my clients and other small
business owners.
It seems that economic conditions and money worries have prompted some
business owners to forget their vision, release their commitment to success
and make decisions to cut resources, scale back on assistance and abandon
marketing campaigns.
In their minds, they are making these decisions to help the business. In
reality, these fear-based decisions will keep their businesses and them from
growing. This happens when a business owner makes decisions based on fear:
they isolate themselves, close themselves off to opportunities and
energetically “give-up” doing what is necessary to succeed. Many of them
justify firing their support staff including assistants, bookkeepers and
coaches—the very resources that are supporting the business growth and
making it possible for them to focus on their core brilliance.
When a small business owner removes their support systems they put
themselves in a backwards position which is exactly the opposite of where
you need to be to make progress.
The biggest reason small business owners sabotage themselves this way is
because it’s uncomfortable to operate in faith. It’s scary to trust in
yourself. It feels hard to have to make it happen yourself. However, if you
really want to be a small business owner for the long haul, you must be able
to feel the fear and act anyway. Those who aren’t resilient and make
faith-based decisions fade away within the first year or two of business by
tucking in their head and sending out resumes to get back into corporate.
In contrast, I have witnessed several of my clients, some who also had
money concerns make faith-based decisions, choosing to invest in themselves
and their businesses trusting the outcome will serve them and it’s not
always the way they thought it would be, but in every case good resulted.
Faith is an essential characteristic for success when you own your own
business. You can’t always see around the corner or know how sales will go
the next month or the next, but having faith will put you in a place of
being willing to receive, open to opportunities and on a path of commitment
to doing everything you can and must do to make your business a success.
Growth comes from having faith. Do you have it?
© 2009, Leah Grant Enterprises LLC.
New Business Mentor Leah Grant publishes Startup Success, a weekly
enewsletter. If you're thinking about starting a new business or are in the
early phases of entrepreneurship, get your FR.EE New Business Startup Kit
including the Secrets of Successful Business Owners audio at
http://www.leahgrant.com
