Overcoming Fear and Doubt: Building Confidence in Your Startup

Your biggest adversaries on this entrepreneurial journey? Fear and Doubt. It's astounding how we let these two pricks kill off brilliant ideas ripe for execution. Ever found yourself thinking, "I'm not smart enough to nail this," "I lack the experience of the industry bigwigs," or "Will anyone even give a damn?" Ring any bells?

It's perfectly normal for these thoughts to echo in your mind before you dive headfirst into a new venture. Hell, it's essential! To some extent, they serve as your safety net, preventing you from leaping off a cliff into knee-deep water. BUT... they shouldn't halt you from launching something potentially fucking amazing. See them as tools. You wouldn't stop using a knife just because it could cut you, right? You'd just be more cautious. Same principle applies here.

If self-doubt's creeping in, take a moment to confront it. The harsh truth is, your doubt is rarely grounded in the rationalizations swirling in your head. It's usually fear of failure or rejection at the core. And guess what, it's natural. If fear whispers that you lack the credentials of the industry titans... SO WHAT! Do you think they started as superheroes? Hell no. They battled the same crushing doubt you're wrestling with right now. They pledged allegiance to an idea, fucked up countless times, pivoted over and over, but never quit.

Confession time: I've shelved passion projects for years, paralyzed by crippling impostor syndrome. Gazing at the big shots and their staggering success, I convinced myself I could never measure up. But my desire to launch never actually died. I dwelled on my ideas. I started, stopped, rinse and repeat. It was pure torture. Then it hit me: I'm not in competition with them. They're where they are because they broke their backs hustling. I'm not Gary Vaynerchuck or Tony Robbins. When I really distilled my trepidation it had dick-all to do with my heroes and how I stack up. I was so focused on the failures that I forgot to look at my success. I've tripped, embarked on projects and tanked. I've taken some hard hits and suffered significant losses on my entrepreneur journey. But what I failed to credit myself for was that I always bounced back. I built a medical equipment company that's a market leader. I put together a team that's grown my company year after year, earning us an impressive reputation. Hell, I put on amazing events with legends! All that goes to the wayside when you start letting doubt define your future.

Yes, I've tasted the bitter pill of business failures. But if you've never failed, you're probably playing it too safe. When I weigh my successes against my failures, I'm clearly ahead of the game. With this realization, I stopped allowing doubt and fear to rule me. They became tools to temper risks. When I fail, I dust off and rise again. Take your lesson and get back into the ring. Don't be the person obsessing over a half-decade-old idea, forever mumbling "someday."

Look, this game is tough. It’s one of the only career paths you can take that require no training. You can go from being a line cook to a restaurant owner if you have the capital. Name another career with such a low barrier to entry. THERE ISN’T ONE. That’s what we’re here for. If you’re a dreamer with an itch to set out on your own we want to help you. Stay tuned. Our journey has just begun.

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