3 Things Keeping You Stuck
Feb 19, 2023
Today, we’re going to be talking about three things that can keep you trapped in your fear of failure and halt you from making progress on your bookkeeping journey.
It can be easy to let yourself dawdle where you are, because staying put doesn’t require any risk. But lack of risk also means lack of change, and trust me, that’s not where you want to get stuck. Let’s take a look…
Paralysis Never Propelled Anyone
I don't know who needs to hear this, but paralysis never propelled anyone.
Maybe you're watching for proof that this thing that you want do might be possible, but you're not actually taking steps because you are frozen by your fear of failure. You're afraid to move.
Typically, this happens because you want it all to be perfect. But perfectionism is not a good thing. Perfectionism is paralysis, perfectionism is fear of failure, and perfectionism will never get you started. You will stay stuck forever. So in your quest to be perfect, you won't ever actually move, and isn't that the scariest thing of all?
Being frozen by your fear of failure is a terrible feeling. So while no, you can't see the whole journey right now, and no, you don't know how all of these unforeseen questions that you have are going to actually play out, regardless of that uncertainty, you have to get started.
You have to take that first baby step, and once you do, a little bit more of the road ahead will clear up. Bit by bit, everything will start to unfold. And when you take one step, whether it pans out beautifully or it doesn't go as you expected, you are still light-years ahead of where you were when you were just standing on the sidelines waiting to figure out what to do.
There is a time for watching other people and trying to pick the best path, and there is a time for doing, and you're not going to move forward watching other people on their journey. You have to get started, regardless of your fear of failure.
You Can Be The Success Story You Wish To See
Number two: you can be the success story that you wish to see.
I see this come up in all sorts of different scenarios. Everybody thinks that they're the first one with their set of circumstances to try to do this thing, but really, they’re probably not.
Now, you may have very unique challenges. A lot of people think, “I'm a mom and I'm working a full-time job. Can I do this?” or “I don't have a formal background in accounting. Is it possible for me to succeed?”
The answer is, of course, yes. There’s always a way.
If you’re plagued by that fear of failure, you may be looking for proof of a person that had your exact circumstances that achieved success…but actually, the most important thing for you to understand is that it is absolutely possible for you no matter what your circumstances are.
Your timeline may be a little bit different. Your definition of success might be a little bit different. The types of clients that you take on might be a little bit different. How you structure your team might be a little bit different, but there is absolutely a way for you to succeed.
So instead of letting your fear of failure keep you stuck, waiting to see somebody doing the thing that you want to do with your exact circumstances and sharing it publicly for you to see, I want you to set the intention that you are going to be the shining success story of your circumstances.
When you shake off your fear of failure, you can be that success story. You can be the person that goes through the programs, that commits to their success, that commits to learning, that commits to messing it up and figuring out how to fix it.
You're listening to me because you want something different, so let yourself take the action to try. Let yourself mess it up. Who cares? It will never get worse than the position that you're in now: doing something you don't want to do, living in circumstances that you want to be different, and not doing a damn thing about it.
It’s Never Too Late to Start Something New
And the last thing is this: it's not too late to start something new.
Who has ever felt like it's too late to start something new? For instance, maybe someone wants to take up rollerblading and feels like they're too late for that when they’ve hit their twenties or thirties. Their fear of failure—or a fear of wasted time—is holding them back.
It’s so silly, isn’t it? I've been telling myself that same story since I was in elementary school. I tried ballet and was like, “Oh, these girls are so advanced. I'm never going to get there. I don't want to be behind. I want to be ahead, or I don't even want to play, so I'm going to sit myself out.”
By “so advanced,” I mean those girls had been doing it for two years, but two years feels like a lifetime when you're eight, doesn’t it?
Now, I know I got lucky, as I had skills that streamlined my path to bookkeeping. I didn't have to go back to school. I didn't have to learn accounting, but I did have to learn systems. There was an element of learning, but I wasn't afraid of that, and you shouldn't be either. It’s not too late for you, no matter what you have to do to get what you want.
We are always growing, and the time is going to pass either way. The time is going to keep marching on. You can choose to be ready now and to let it take however long it takes, or you can let that regret halt you in your tracks.
If you're thirty-five and you wanted this thing when you were twenty-five, but you didn't do it…even if it takes you five years, wouldn't you rather have it at forty than be laying on your deathbed and thinking, “I never tried,” and feel haunted by that choice?
Those are the things that I think about, and they're the things that force me to take action. And I will say, taking action is still not always the easiest thing for me to do, but I do it anyway. And the more that you do that, the more that you put yourself in vulnerable positions, the easier it will get.
In truth, the thing that you are most afraid of is letting yourself down…but you are already letting yourself down by not trying. For me, not trying is the biggest letdown possible.
Get Unstuck From Your Fear of Failure!
Now that you can identify these three things keeping you stuck and stopping you from taking your next step forward, I hope you sit down and start taking actionable steps to shake off that fear of failure and start making progress on your journey!
WORK WITH KATIE:
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