July 2022

July Topic: What is something early on in your business that scared you but does not now?

By Cheryl Clark with Clark Strategies

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I see the word scared in this question, and boy I want to dissect that word even before I start typing my blog.  I am not sure if there was anything I was afraid of but there were a few things I use to worry about – that I no longer stress as much over.

At times, I think I am disillusioned – some may use the word crazy.  I have never feared not making it, not providing for myself, not finding a way.  I do understand a lot of business owners have this fear and it’s very real.  I have always trusted the process.  Do not get me wrong, there have been times I’ve been broke, poor, and struggling, but I always knew it would come.  Neat to reflect on that here and now.

The one thing that always seemed to preoccupy my mind early on in my business was the thought of “what are ‘they’ saying?”  I was not worried about what ‘they’ were doing.  I was not worried about how ‘they’ were doing it.  I was worried about what ‘they’ were saying and specifically what ‘they’ were saying about me.  #rawtruth

I used to be obsessed over it and my mind ran the full wide open dramatic game most of my awake hours.

You know the game the mind plays!  ‘They’ are saying you suck.  ‘They’ are saying you dropped the ball.  ‘They’ are saying your business won’t make it.  ‘They’ are saying you don’t know what you are talking about.  ‘They’ are saying you’ll never make it.  ‘They’ are saying they don’t get why you are here.  They, they, they.

It scared me.

My mind gave up EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. …at some point or another.  My actions didn’t, though.  Truth!  I could carry on the ‘act’ even with the script in my mind being played.  I don’t know why frankly, and I am still like this.  On the days I feel defeated, my actions don’t change.  I show up, I do.  I do despite feeling done.

Now what ‘they’ say, and think doesn’t scare me.  I no longer ask myself what are ‘they’ saying, what are ‘they’ thinking?

What made the difference?  What was the pivotal moment?  I think it was in my mind.

I shifted from ‘looking to get’ to just simply ‘giving.’  I don’t look to get feedback, praise, or even business – I look to serve now so only what I put out matters to me.  What comes back is not as important.  It’s valued, it’s received, it’s seen, it’s felt but it is not a priority.  What I do and can do and choose to do is what I focus on.

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