In this episode, I deal with something that many of us struggle with and it is fear. We talk about what fear is, its causes and the ways to tackle it. As an entrepreneur, you will have a constant battle to tackle fear and anxiety. Fear causes paralysis and it blinds our mind’s capacity to see the options in front of us. You focus on the wrong things.

Here are six reasons that result in fear and the ways to tackle them:

1. Lack of Clarity – When you don’t know where to start or when you feel that you don’t know enough, it causes fear. Be clear on where you want to go, what and why you want to do it, and the people that will help you.
2. Lack of Information – We don’t know what to do when we don’t have enough information. In today’s technological world, information is everywhere. Just google it and find information, how-tos and everything else on the internet.
3. Lack of Commitment – To be successful, you can’t just do it sometimes as a part time. Have a side gig, but make it full time by focusing on it on a regular and systematic basis. Commit fully to the business, idea and the value you are looking to create.
4. Lack of Action – A majority of problems in business are a result of bad decisions or executions. People freeze as they are afraid to take the wrong action. But taking an action does not put you in concrete. The key is to take action and consistently execute.
5. Lack of Support – You will not only need professional support in your business but emotional support from your loved ones as well. Enroll such people in your mission and purpose to move forward. Communicate with them if you feel that you’re not getting the support and they will rally behind you.
6. Lack of a Backup Plan – Plans don’t always go as planned. Having alternatives means you have figured out possible outcomes, risks and obstacles, and the ways to navigate through them. Keep the destination the same but have multiple ways to reach it. When the first plan is not working, you will have a backup plan.

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Hey there, Mel Abraham here. The author of the brand new number one best selling book The Entrepreneur’s Solution and the founder of Business Breakthrough Academy where we teach you how to design a business and create a life: A life of financial freedom and peace of mind.

Welcome to this episode of The Entrepreneur’s Solution show. I’m really excited about this episode because I want to deal with something that I think many many entrepreneurs and people in general struggle with, including myself. I struggle with it all the time and it’s this four letter word called fear.

• What is fear in an entrepreneur’s world?
• What causes it?
• Where does it come from? And really …
• How are the things to, what are the things we can do to eliminate it?

So, after this brief introduction we’re going to come back, we’re going to talk about fear in a different way. We’re going to give you some tools and some things and some thoughts that might help you tackle it because I don’t think that it’s about fear I think it’s about something else and you’ll find out about that soon.

If you happen to be on the road and not by your computer and you want to get the guide book for this episode go ahead and text MYLEGACY, no space, one word, MYLEGACY at 38470. If you want to download the guide book, go to the website. Do that by going to www.MelAbraham.com/session018. That’s www.MelAbraham.com/session018 and I’ll see you right after this brief introduction.

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Hey there Mel Abraham here. Thank you, welcome back. Welcome back to this episode of The Entrepreneur’s Solution show and in this one we’re going to talk about fear. This thing comes up … it comes up for all of us, including myself.
I’ve been an entrepreneur for thirty plus years and I got to tell you it’s a constant battle, it’s a constant wrestling with this concept of fear, anxiety. But once I realized what it was about I was able to allay it, I was able to control it, to understand it, to be able to deal with it in a way that really stripped it away.
The challenge with fear is that it causes paralysis. It truly does. It paralyzes us into not doing things. It blinds our mind’s capacity to see options that actually are right there in front of us. How many times have we start to get sucked into it and into the problems and not look for the solutions and the solutions may be easy enough to find for us.

I remember years ago when I was in college, I was in a fraternity. I was pledging a fraternity and during Hell Week one of the things they did, it was really late at night, they came running in, grabbed one of us and they would take us into this room where all the other fraternity brothers were in there. And there’s a big light on us and they put us on the ground and sit us down on the ground and they throw a blanket on top of us and they look at us and they said, “You’re wearing something that you do not need. Take it off.”

Most of us, including myself, I took my shoe off and tossed it out. They said “No, you’re wearing something you do not need. Take it off.” I took the other shoe off and again it was wrong. This went on for a little while until I kind of sit there and said, “Duh, what’s the one thing that I don’t need right now.” That was the blanket they put over my head.

I only tell that story for you to understand that many times the things that we fear, the solution to those fears is right in front of us. We don’t see it; we fail to see the obvious. Most of the time what fear is, is really your ability to focus but you’re focusing on the wrong things. It’s a misplaced focus. But it can be the catalyst that gets you to move. So there’s the key.

When you start to feel fearful one of the things to do is to immediately get present, find the passion to move beyond it. So let’s just look at it for a moment and understand in an entrepreneur’s world where does fear come from so we can avoid this paralysis, so we can avoid keeping the blanket over our heads and not doing things.

What I found with entrepreneurs, working with entrepreneurs as well as myself is the fear a lot of times comes from not knowing where to start, not knowing enough. Saying to yourself, how many times have you said to yourself?

Because I know that I’m guilty of it too. “I don’t know enough about it yet, so if I don’t know enough about it yet maybe I shouldn’t be doing it.” But really what’s the message in that? The solution is right there. I need to learn more about it.
Or, the entrepreneur is looking at it and saying, “I don’t have enough money.” Or, they look at it and they say, “I just am not sure that either the product is good enough or I’m good enough or people don’t believe in me.” Or they look at it and they say, “I don’t have customers. What happens if I build it and no one comes?” Which could happen, could happen.

Or, they look at “Why am I not going into the entrepreneurial area or doing what I want to do because it might affect my family?” Or, they live in what I call worse case thinking. They live in worse case thinking, always the negatives without understanding that there is a positive slant to it, there is an opportunity.
Yes, entrepreneurship, building a business, doing things has risks. But with the risk comes opportunities. You’re never going to be able to build something great without taking some risks associated with it.

Here’s what I found out and this is what allows me to tackle the fears.
• When I feel them welling up.
• When I feel them paralyzing.
• When I feel them sucking the energy out of me and putting me in a place of paralysis where I’m not going to act.

It is typically for one of six reasons. I either have lack of clarity, and when I say clarity:
• I don’t know what I want to do.
• I don’t know what I want to achieve.
• I don’t know when I want to achieve it.
• I’m not sure how to do it.

Lack of clarity will result in fear because you’re not sure where to start. You don’t think you know enough. So the key is, again, the solution is in here is clarity becomes paramount in everything you do.
• Are you clear on where you want to go?
• Are you clear in what you want to do?
• Are you clear on why you want to do it?
• Are you clear on the people that might be able to help you get there?

So, lack of clarity is one and what this is, is a checklist. When I feel that fear welling up I go through these six and I say, “Is it coming from one of these six?” Because from that then I know how to solve it, then I know how to build myself outside the fear and move myself beyond it.

First is lack of clarity, the second is lack of information. Many times we don’t know what to do because we don’t have enough information. Well, lack of information in today’s world, in today’s technological world, there’s no reason to say I don’t have enough information.

Look, we’ve got this new invention called the GOOG, Google. It’s out there. Just Google it and there’s plenty of information out there. YouTube. There’s how-tos. Reach out to people. Most of the information you need is sitting at your fingertips.
• It’s about putting the work in.
• It’s about putting the research in.
• It’s about putting the effort in to get to that point.

I was just listening to a podcast by Gary Vaynerchuk, great guy, great entrepreneur with a great mind. A little rough around the edges in his presentation style but at the same time good person, good heart. He says when he finds something that he likes—that he thinks has potential—he will invest hours and hours and hours and hours of effort until he masters it, until he understands it, inside and out and tries it.

He says, “The biggest asset I have is time.” Especially for entrepreneurs that say I don’t have enough money which is one of those fears—no money, then your biggest asset is time. Invest the time to understand.

He tells a story about a person who sent him an email saying, “My business is tanking, my business is – I’m not sure.” Basically he’s on the edge of his world and yet he’s sending emails out and not investing the time in his business. He says,
• You need to work harder.
• You need to find things.
• You need to get the information, and extract it and build on it.

I think it’s the same thing here. Lack of information certainly will create a fear because of that lack of knowledge but it’s one of the easiest elements to fix in today’s world. Reaching out to someone, reaching out to Google, YouTube, other websites and getting that information.

So that’s number two, lack of clarity, lack of information and the third is lack of commitment. A lot of entrepreneurs that I’ve met are … they’re interested; they’re intrigued with maybe starting something. Maybe I can make a little money on the side. Entrepreneurship you’re either in or you are out, I believe. If you really want to be successful, you can’t play it part time in the sense of sometimes you’re doing it, sometimes you’re not.

I don’t mean that you can’t have a side gig. That’s not what I’m saying. I’m saying that if you’re going to have a side gig it’s still a full time. In other words you still have focus on it, on a regular basis on a systematic basis and you’re putting the commitment in to make it a success. Rather than look at it, “Well I’m going to do this on the side, if I make a little money, great, if I don’t okay.”

That’s not committed.
• Commit to the business.
• Commit to the idea.
• Commit to the value you’re going to create.

Even if it is part time, are you committed? Are you committed to doing the things that are necessary to bring your idea, your value to a marketplace and bring it to life?

And then the fourth is lack of action. To me, this lack of action you can call it lack of execution just the same. This is where really the rubber meets the road. Most of the problems we have in business are result of bad decisions or bad execution. Most of that, the majority of that, is bad execution.

If your execution is what is going to bring things to life, and if you are not taking action, some people are frozen in fear because they’re afraid to take the wrong action. But here’s the thing to think about—you’ve heard me say this in some of my other programs and speeches—is that when you make a decision, when you take an action, it doesn’t put you in concrete, it doesn’t make it so you can’t move.

Most of the things we do in our business and our life are not terminal. In other words, I have the ability to change and shift directions. The point is, is this—we make a decision, we take an action to get more information so we can make a better informed decision and take a better action. So the key is take action, do it consistently, execute, execute, execute.

The fifth one is lack of support. And when I talk about lack of support I’m talking about business support, but I’m also talking about relational support:
• Your loved ones,
• Your family,
• Your spouse,
• Your significant other.

I think what we need to do is:
• Enroll people in our mission.
• Enroll people in our purpose.
• Enroll people in what we’re trying to create to move forward.

And they will rally behind us. But you need to have those conversations. If you feel that you’re not getting the support, you don’t have a supportive spouse or if you feel that you don’t have a supportive group then one have those conversations. I know that sometimes they can be difficult.

Look, my wife came from a, she’s a extremely articulate, bright, intelligent lady and very successful, very successful executive in the corporate space. She came into the entrepreneurial space with me. She still has her corporate work that she does and she does a phenomenal job building teams and the things that she does, just amazing. She’s viewing me in this entrepreneurial space that she’s never been in.

So, we had to have some conversations so I could help her understand what being an entrepreneur or in her case being the wife of an entrepreneur which is a zany, crazy journey, could be like. She’s one of the greatest supports for me today that I could ever ask for. She rallies behind me, she cheers me on, she’s my champ and she’s my cheerleader. And I am for her.

So, what we need to do is have those conversations. We need to build those relationships and if you feel that you don’t have enough support around you, you need to reach out and bring them in. Create a support mechanism around you. All of these things that create fear are solvable.

And then the last is this concept of a lack of a backup plan. So, here’s the thing, and I have a very good friend of mine that says, “You don’t need a Plan B.” I think it’s misinterpreted when he says that. It’s not that you don’t need a Plan B. You don’t need a destination B. There’s a difference. My destination is the same.

The path in which I get there I’m not necessarily married to because it’s the destination that I want to get to. So, if the first path isn’t working or it’s blocked or something happens I do have a backup plan. The time to do your backup plan, to get to the same destination, is before you start.

The more alternatives, the more ways you’ve worked out the possible outcome the more ways that you’ve thought it through, figured out what the risks are, figured out what the obstacles are and learned how you might be able to navigate around those, the easier it’s going to be, the less stress you’re going to have because you know one thing’s for certain.

When you put a plan in place and you start to execute. Guess what? The plan doesn’t go as planned. That’s a guarantee. So, plan from the beginning. Figure out the alternative ways to still get to the same destination. Remember it’s not about not having a Plan B. I want you to have a Plan B but I want you to continue towards destination A if that makes sense.

So, those are the things that I would look at and I would do it as a checklist. If you’re finding that you’re stuck. If you’re finding that you’re fearful. If you’re finding that fear welling up inside of you, that anxiety where you are going, “I don’t know, I don’t know and I don’t want to go”.

Then ask yourself:
• Is it because of a lack of clarity?
• Is it because of lack of information?
• Is it because I’m just maybe not committed to it?
• Is it because I’m not taking action or I’m not executing properly?
• Or do I need support?
• Or do I need to start developing a backup plan?

Not to a different destination though, a backup plan to the same destination. This is the recipe that I’ve use for myself and for my clients and for other entrepreneurs to help them start to filter out and get that, and move beyond that fear.

Think about it for a moment. If I get clarity, have the information, I become committed to it, I start to take concerted execution and action, I have a supportive team and I have alternatives. How can you be fearful, because you got everything in the game at that point.

I hope that helps you. I hope that helps you deal with what comes up in many entrepreneurs’ lives. You are not alone. I’m not alone. It comes up with me many times. Understand it, use it to your advantage, figure out what it is. I hope that you found this of value.

Again, if you found this of value, go ahead and share it with a friend. Give them the gift of what we’re doing here. Give them the gift of some of the tools, the resources and the techniques that we’re doing to help them build their business, build their world, build their dreams. Get them out of the darkness again and bring them to life.

To download the guide book and everything and the resource guide for this, go ahead and go to MelAbraham/session018. MelAbraham/session018. If you happen to not be at your computer and you’re out on a run or you’re at the gym, just text. Text MYLEGACY one-word no-spaces, 38470. We’ll get the download link directly to you.

If you have a question about this, success, business, money, whatever question you have, I don’t know. You could even ask me … don’t ask me questions about recipes and things like that I can’t help there but you can go ahead and send it anyways, go to AskMelNow.com, that’s askmelnow.com. You can click the button. You can leave me a message. Your question, I will get to all the questions personally, and most of the time I will do it on one of the upcoming episodes.

So I hope you enjoyed this episode and I hope that this helps you, serves you and supports you as you move forward in your entrepreneurial journey. If there’s anything I can do for you in the process, reach out. Let me know. Look forward to being part of your journey. Again,

May your vision be grand, your journey epic and your legacy significant!
See you soon. Bye for now!!
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Like this? Please share it and help a few more people bring their dreams out of the darkness and give life to them again.  Cheers, Mel
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