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Overcoming fear in business with the just do it mindset
Contents
How “Just Do It” Conquers Business Fear
If you haven’t already, I would highly recommend reading a book Called “Shoe Dog” about the rise of the sports brand Nike. It’s a great book, but there’s only one thing from it that I want to run through with you today.
Their slogan, Just Do It.
Now as a kid I wore T-shirts, hoodies and all manner of other items with this slogan on and despite it being right in front of my eyes it never really hit home to me. It’s odd to say that I read the words but never processed them beyond the superficial nature of them looking cool.
Of course I didn’t think I was on autopilot at all, I thought I was free and independent. Yet with the benefit of hindsight, I can now see, just from this simple conversation about a logo that I wasn’t really processing my surroundings.
Maybe I was lost in the weight of expectation about becoming a success, worried about how my hair looked, was my car loud enough etc. I just don’t really know but now it seems so obvious, and I was never there in the moment, my mind was always on something else.
I would be watching my kids play in the park, but my head lost in a world of “what ifs” and emails.
So, the slogan, Just Do It, why do I bring it up apart from not reading three exceptionally common words? Well, the answer is because it’s the antidote to fear and as a business owner I faced fear every single day.
Breaking Free from Autopilot in Business
Fear for me, or the anxiety it causes, isn’t something I have managed to magic away. I am human. I feel fear all the time, to varying degrees. Perhaps I am going to jump outside my comfort zone or risk it all on a pivot in strategy. It could even be something as simple as playing golf and not wanting to play badly.
Fear stems from our brain’s negative bias, a protection mechanism designed to keep us safe back in the day when predators were around. The problem is our negative bias brains have struggled to adapt to a world where a wolf isn’t going to creep into your camp anymore. Instead of one problem we have a few million, and each one is heightened by the fast-paced communication centric world we live in.
Confronting Media-Driven Fear in Business
The sad part is the media, and our politicians have figured out that the negative bias is a bit like a drug for us. We’re addicted to it, we’re like homing pigeons for negativity.
Have you watched the news lately? Even the most non-partisan websites sell negativity, even if it is true.
Take for example this morning bbc.co.uk, a brand known for being nonbiased or political. Here’s their news stories above the fold (aka the ones you see first).
- Doctor warned Nottingham attacker could kill
- Tom Cruise abseils off stadium roof in daring Olympic finale
- Thunderstorm warnings as UK set for “heat spike”
- “On the verge of explosion” Policeman’s killing part of spiralling West Bank violence
- Residents evacuated as wildfires near Athens
- Drivers get Dart fines despite not using crossing
- US sends submarine to Middle East as tensions grow
- “Dodgy” websites reselling driving tests for profit
- Ukraine and Russia trade blame over fire at Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant
Thank the lord for our saviour Tom Cruise providing some light relief. Are you really telling me those are the most important news stories right now? I would argue they were picked based on what sells, or what people click etc.
It’s just not healthy and I would argue we’re fuelling some sort of self-perpetuating crisis where we enter an endless spiral of negativity. Who picks the news stories they run on the ten o’clock news? It all comes down to an executive decision to push negative content somewhere.
The Nature of Fear in Business
Before I move on to the actual point of this blog I would just like to say, personally I think negativity itself needs to be regulated in the media. I have no issue in these stories being written or shared, but I don’t think it’s healthy for only one out of nine to be positive. I get that this is done to boost readership and views, but in the same way as nicotine is addictive, surely for our collective mental health the media should be required to make half of the news they “push” positive.
So Just Do It, where does it come into tackling fear. Well, it turns out that this slogan, something I had unconsciously read for years is the antidote. As business owners, when we reach for the stars, we get tested to see if we are worth it.
Most people feel fear at that point and just stop, so their business idea never takes off. But a few of us keep on going and not just because we want to. If you were anything like me, I was so over invested that stopping would have meant ruin, so I just kept on going!
The fear people feel when they start or run a business is their negative brain deciding to try to protect them and let’s face it running a business is a pretty scary thing. You start out thinking success will be a nice simple straight line, and then you realise its about as straight and simple as a bowl of spaghetti.
The easiest way I have found to deal with fear is to feel it, and then just do it anyway. In business we need momentum to be successful and the first few years feels like pushing a big rock uphill until you reach the peak, and it starts to roll down the other side. I can’t tell you how big your hill is, and yes, it’s annoying that some people don’t ever seem to have done much pushing but that’s life.
What I know is that when you’re pushing that big rock up hill, putting in place all the tools you need to succeed, and learning lots along the way, the last thing you need is to be paralysed by fear.
Building Momentum in Your Business Journey
So, here’s what you do, fell that fear and use it as a warning system. Maybe you need to refine something or learn a new skill before it’s needed, but the last thing you need to do is stop pushing that rock up hill. Often it can even feel like you can’t take a day off for fear of that rock slipping, but that why we’re here.
At Yellowstone Accounts we know all about pushing big rocks up hills, in fact we’ve done our fair share of it (I am pretty sure at this point there’s about 100 huge rocks and the hill is a mountain) but I am thankful for the opportunity because as I get higher up that hill and look back, the view is marvellous.
In fact, it’s so marvellous that we’ve decided to help other people push their rocks up hill so they can have a day off and protect their momentum. Just do it becomes we’ll do it, and really that the point, the more experienced hands on that rock, the faster it gets up the hill.
Will Ryles
Entrepreneur & Founder | Yellowstone Accounts
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