FEAR of Success

[Emo6126]

Hi everyone,

been viewing FLF for a while now, but rarely post.

I just have to say that MJ DeMarco has truly inspired me and his book in a weird way has become somewhat of a bible (and I am far from religious lol). A little over a year ago I bought the book and have never been the same. Since I bought and read the book I have actually invented a product, tested it, got it patent pending, and already manufactured it. I have started a company around the idea and I am very proud and excited about launching...............but here is were the FEAR is setting in. I am launching a few weeks and in the last two weeks I haven't done anything towards it. For months I would toil for hours at night getting things together, and now when I most need to I feel I lost all motivation and I am scared.

Why?


Has anyone else felt this way and what did you do to get over it??

 

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[The-J]

Hello and welcome to the forum.

I'm in your situation.

It's not a fear of success, it's a fear of knowing what's next.

I know once someone signs up for my service and uses it, spending their money on it, I can't turn back. From that point on, it's a full time job (and then some) that I won't be able to quit until I outsource my activities, sell it, or it burns to the ground.

At the same time, I know if I can't get a customer after endless selling, I'll have to scrap the whole project and it'll be a failure.

I'm somewhere between 'wantrepreneur' and 'entrepreneur'. Being a wantrepreneur is comfortable. Being an entrepreneur is

I left that last sentence blank because I don't know and I'm scared to know.

It's one small step for me, one giant leap for my life. This will literally change the direction of my life.

I hope I make the right decision, since I'm gonna jump in it.

 

[Entourage]

'Most people travel the 90 percent to eventually give up at the last few steps.'

Re-read that quote seventy times now, and ponder about it thoroughly! You can do this, FOCUS!!!

 

[Emo6126]

Hey entourage,

love the quote...in fact printing it up and placing it on my wall. I do not want to stop before the finish line and I do not want to be one of them

It is good to know I am not alone and in fact somewhat helps.

J you are right, wantreprenuer felt great and was really comfortable and I am now taking that leap into entrepreneur. It is a scary thing knowing what will happen next. Like what if a company actually wants my product? what if someone wants to purchase in bulk...what will I do......

I know what will have to be done but it is very scary...............

I guess once you jump in the cold water, it will eventually warm up

 

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[Entourage]

Awesome! I have found comfort in the scariness, actually a little bit addicted to it, you have to fall in love with leaving your comfort zone, every single day, it's the only way to make progress!

 

[Hong King Kong]

Hey, I'm pretty new to this forum so what I say might not have that much credit.

But look at how far you've come, you INVENTED a product, tested it, got it patent pending, and already manufactured it. Thats crazy! you're definitely not a stranger to hustle, and I plan to do all that in the future as well. Good luck and Keep hustling!

 

[Barry]

Anytime I reach a stage like this I usually turn back to all my notes and remember why you started in the first place it should help. Goodluck and Welcome to the forum!

Sent from my BlackBerry using Tapatalk

 

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[JAJT]

'Most people travel the 90 percent to eventually give up at the last few steps.'

One of the better stories I've heard about this was in Think and Grow Rich. I forget the names/details but it boiled down to this:

- Gold prospector finds a vein of gold.
- Borrows money, hires help, buys machinery, goes to town on the vein.
- Vein dries up suddenly, guy gets frustrated, sells the machinery back to the supplier and goes home with his tail between his legs.
- Supplier says "hmmm", hires a geologist to inspect the dig site.
- Geologist finds that due to a fault line the vein re-starts 5 FEET from the dig site.
- Supplier becomes enormously rich.

The guy who quit was 5 FEET from riches when he quit. The prospector was literally steps away from the finish line when he turned around.

 

[CommonCents]

The first step is that you bring out your fear and talk about. Congrats! Once you do that, you are open to how to handle it. Most people will never admit it, and continue their silent self defeat.

When I hit these points I ask myself, what's the WORST things that could happen? Then assign some probabilities. They are usually unfounded and very small.

Life motivation is based on avoiding pain, and pursuing pleasure. Write two columns on a piece of paper. column 1, pain, column 2, pleasure. Write all aspects from financial to personal etc in each column. Addem up and compare. You'll see on paper the tremendous gain you'll have to continue.

the other part of not going forward is that you may be overwhelmed with what steps to take next, paralysis by analysis. Just write it down, break it down into smaller steps/goals and that will help tremendously. Good luck!

 

[Jonleehacker]

First off, the first and most difficult step to overcoming any problem is awareness, and you've already done that part, and even better that you shared it in a supportive environment.

Most likely, and I share the same thing, its not a fear of success, but a fear of criticism. Only the last step of bringing your product out into the public can produce that pain of having someone take a shot at you.

When I created my first digital product, I was devastated the first time someone made a negative comment. I had deep associations that connected a verbal attack to primal feelings of insecurity. These are the real things that prevent people from becoming successful. When you hear gurus yelling "TAKE ACTION" it always makes me laugh, because I took action all night and day, but if you take massive action but have unresolved issues that sabotage that action, it is pointless.

It just takes some inner work. Being sensitive to what it really going on inside and then letting go the crap but releasing the blocked emotions that are holding that pattern in place. You can do it, you're already well on the way!

 

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[andviv]

but here is were the FEAR is setting in.

What's the worst that could happen?

 

[The-J]

What's the worst that could happen?

Doing work with nothing to show for it. I, personally, have gotten attached to building a start-up. I'm too comfortable in the Chuma mode phase and as long as I stay there, I will not have failed.

To Jonleehacker's post about criticism: For some reason, criticism seems to give me a burning feeling inside. For example, a retired doctor told me that my site was just an 'attract site', basically saying that it provided no real value to the community (ouch). I wanted to tell him 'F*ck you kindly' but I didn't respond (trying to be an adult about the situation) and I still want to prove him wrong.

I have a question for the OP: what's stopping you from launching today? Why do you have to launch in a few weeks?

 

[Rawr]

You only have to be right once - no one will care what you did before, or what you failed at - Mark Cuban


Failure is not a binary option. If you did something and it didn't work out, can you re-work, re-think, or even sell it as is to someone? I think the problem sometimes is thinking of success as binary too - there are levels or everything, you try to be MORE or a good person, MORE of a success, LESS of a lazy person.

In america it is yes or no, this or that, 1 or 0. It might help to think outside the box to percentages, levels, etc.

 

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[Emo6126]

I guess the reason for not launching now is fear, and in my head I guess I have already picked a date and feel COMFORTABLE sticking with that........and I guess feel even more comfortable pushing it further

I guess it is also a fear of work. Yes I love to hustle and work like a dog, but this time it is unknown work and the what ifs of failure.

Although I am no stranger to criticism.....which I feel everyone needs to make themselves better..in fact my product was designed around the users criticisms. When someone hated something I changed it until I finally got something that worked. As Thomas Edison put it “We now know a thousand ways not to build a light bulb”........................... I now have that embarrassed feeling about my product, like .....who is going to buy this? Am I skeeming people? people will think its a joke, a cheap piece of crap.....etc......


When I invented the product I had no idea how to do it, but I read up on how to do it, when I started my company I had no idea how to do it so I read up on it, I built my own website, did all the professional video and photography, built a Facebook page and advertised, gave out freebies to everyone I know............all while learning on the fly. Now I am ready to launch.................................and it feels like something totally different.

a. More advertising
b. calls to companies that may want to carry the product...........as I type this I realize that this may be the major setback...........the one thing possibly holding me back..............with no prior sales of the product how the hell I am I suppose to sell a bulk amount


Wow thank you everyone for the motivating words. As I read your posts and type this one, I see just how much I freakin accomplished in a year.............HOLY SHIT......to stop now would be insane, but of course the inner demons will always shout at you

To J, you are absolutely right. I should launch sooner. I have already done my preliminaries, but like commonsense said "paralysis by analysis"

 

[Entourage]

I guess the reason for not launching now is fear, and in my head I guess I have already picked a date and feel COMFORTABLE sticking with that........and I guess feel even more comfortable pushing it further

I guess it is also a fear of work. Yes I love to hustle and work like a dog, but this time it is unknown work and the what ifs of failure.

You don't fear succes, you fear the unknown. You are fearing what will come next. You're the type of person who would walk into a dark tunnel, no matter how long it is, if only you see the light at the end. Well, you don't buddy, that's not how entrepreneurism works, you don't see the end of the tunnel, there might not even be one, but it is your responsibility to create the light! Now, stop posting in this thread, and get to action. Start by dividing your launch-plan in to small actions.

ie.

- Emailing him
- Calling her
- Uploading this

etc etc ...

Small bits of work make one big picture!