Confident Entrepreneurs Overcome Fear and Take Bold Action

Fear is said to be nothing more than “false evidence appearing real,” and for the most part, that’s true. Many fears have no basis in reality, and are only presumptions based on the worst-case scenario. Still, it can be hard to release fear, especially in business when money and your reputation are at stake. Imposter syndrome can be brutal, and the fear of making the wrong decision can keep you frozen.

The truth is, successful entrepreneurs are not immune to fear, but they have learned how to build confidence and take bold action in spite of their fears (and be okay with failure). If you want to be a successful entrepreneur, overcoming fear so you can act with confidence is one of the most important skills to learn. 

Here’s how to develop this trait.

1. Understand That Mistakes Can Expand Your Expertise

People say we all make mistakes, and the best we can do is learn from them. This is true, but sometimes it seems like something people say just to make you feel better. It’s important to understand the deep wisdom in the idea that mistakes are inevitable. It’s not just a soothing statement – it’s a reality, and making mistakes can work in your favor.

When you make a mistake, you’ll learn more than if you had done everything perfectly the first time. Mistakes reveal the nuances of a situation that can be used to your advantage later, especially when you need to troubleshoot something. 

For example, if you’re learning how to create a website in WordPress and you accidentally lock yourself out of your admin panel, you’ll be forced to learn how to edit the database directly to change your password or use an FTP client to fix the error that caused the admin panel to break. If you never make this mistake, you won’t have any reason to explore solutions, which means your knowledge of SQL databases will remain limited. Every mistake made is truly an opportunity to learn more.

2. Practice Meeting With Clients in Person

Nothing will boost your confidence levels more than having a good time with your clients in person. The deeper you can develop your relationships, the easier those relationships become. At first, clients might seem like people you need to constantly impress and engage, and if you make a mistake, they’re going to bounce. That might be true of some people, but not everyone, and especially not when you’ve established a strong relationship.

If possible, connect with your clients in person. Invite them to your home for dinner or a simple afternoon brunch. Many entrepreneurs grow their businesses by connecting with clients for dinner parties in the backyard. Socializing with clients makes you more likable, and will get them to think about you more often. When you’re on your clients’ minds, they are more likely to refer you to others who are looking for your services. Hosting private dining events for clients is an excellent strategy to generate word-of-mouth advertising for your business and build a positive reputation in your niche.

3. Recognize the Source of Your Fears

You might think you’re afraid to invest $5,000 in marketing services because you don’t know if the company you’ve chosen can get results, but that may not be the true source of your fear. Look deeper. Perhaps you got cheated in the past by another company, or you have an underlying belief that marketing isn’t effective. Never take your fears at face value. There’s almost always something deeper at the root.

4. Make Informed Decisions Based on the Right Aata

The data that informs your decisions matters more than the decision itself. Decisions based on inaccurate or incomplete data will be less effective than decisions based on correct and complete data. Thankfully, you have some degree of control over this.

When it comes to sourcing data and analytics, choose wisely. Every app you use to run your business will likely have some kind of analytics in the back end, but they’re not all going to be accurate or consistent. If possible, create a single dashboard that combines all data from all the apps you use so you can get a more accurate picture of what’s going on. The more you can rely on your data, the easier it will be to make confident decisions.

Acknowledge Fear, but Don’t Feed It

You’re not supposed to feed the bears at the zoo, so don’t feed your fears – it’s basically the same thing. Whatever you feed sticks around. Acknowledge your fears and choose to take action anyway. You’ll start getting better results, and confidence will develop naturally.