Ask any freelancer (beginner or experienced) what their fear of freelancing is, and you’ll probably hear at least one of these 3 common fears.
- The fear of starting
- The fear of rejection
- The fear of failure
There are so many moms who have heard about freelancing, and considered it as an option, but have one of these common fears holding them back.
The goal of this series is to break down these common fears of freelancing that I hear about. And to share some strategies to help more moms overcome their fear of freelancing.
If you can stop letting fear control your life, you can conquer anything!
The Fear Of Starting
Growing up I would get bursts of feelings of wanting to go outside my comfort zone, then if the outcome did not work out as I had envisioned, I would retreat back into my shell. It became less and less frequent that I would follow those bursts and move out of my comfort zone.
Eventually, I stopped trying new things.
It is easier to see this pattern in your kids. Say, for example, your child came to you excited to try out for a soccer team or play. So, you sign them up. Then as it gets closer to the start of the camp or to try this new experience, they tell you, “I don’t want to do that anymore”.
You would respond with, why?
As you listen, eventually, you will get answers that start with, “what if…”. What if I make a mistake? What if I don’t make the team? What if no one sits by me, etc.?
Then all of these negative scenarios of “what ifs” that could happen, start spiraling out of control. I call this the downward spiral of doom. We experience this when we try something new or go outside our comfort zones.
That is normal.
That is our brain trying to keep us safe in our comfort zone.
We can sometimes recognize these thoughts within ourselves, but it’s easier to recognize them in our children in the example above. It’s easier to see how silly it is to not do something because of those thoughts.
It’s useless to worry about hypothetical scenarios that haven’t happened yet. Instead, focus on what you can control. You can control how hard you practice, the sleep you get before tryouts, and if you go up to someone and say hi to them.
Focus on what you can control.
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How to Overcome Your Fear Of Freelancing:
Focus on what you can control
If you find yourself saying, “I want to try freelancing, but what if…”. Here is the framework I’ve used to conquer this fear of the what-if downward spiral to overcome the fear of freelancing.
Name your fear.
What is your fear? Write it down, name it, or describe it in your head. Get to the bottom of what exactly it is you are afraid of.
Then evaluate that list. Look at those things. Are they worth worrying about right now? Or are they just hypotheticals?
If it is just something that could happen or an outcome, then that is not something you can control. There is no use worrying about that. So, instead of worrying about hypotheticals that you can’t control-like if you can get a client.
Identify what you can control.
Instead, focus on what you CAN control. Take all your fears individually and ask if this is my reality right now, or just hypothetical.
If it is hypothetical, identify what you can control to make that outcome less likely.
Make a plan to fix it.
Next, look to see if there is a reality on your list. If so, then start by making a plan. How can you fix it or change it?
What can you change?
The last step is to think about the worst-case scenario. What if I fail? What if I don’t land a client? What if I make a mistake?
Think about that worst-case scenario and figure out what to do if this does happen. If I don’t land a client, then what can you do to evaluate and change it?
There are different things you can do to evaluate your challenges when beginning your business.
As a member of the Live Free Academy, you have a ton of resources available to you to help you.
You can go to the Facebook community for help too!
You can come to a coaching call for help.
Finally, Step 7 of the Live Free Academy course has an exercise you can go through to help you figure out where you are getting stuck and how we can fix it together.
So, don’t let your fear of freelancing stop you from starting today. You have the framework to help you overcome whatever is holding you back from starting, and if you are still stuck, then reach out directly at [email protected], so we can work through this fear of freelancing together!
