One of the most unfortunate cycles I see aspiring entrepreneurs get into is the “question cycle.” At the beginning, you’ve got questions. You need to know how to build a website, set up your social media channels, start blogging, host workshops, get your product in stores, etc…
At this point, some people just get started. Dive in.
But for many, many others, there’s another round of questions. And another round. And another round.
The never-ending quest for answers turns into a never-starting spiral of inaction.
It all comes down to trust. Do you trust yourself to grow your business? Do you trust yourself to plan & prioritize the direction you want to go? Do you trust yourself to serve your customers? Do you trust yourself to provide for your family?
The quest for answers is not the quest for self-trust.
I’ve deliberately set up the products & services of my business to never be about buying answers. That’s meant I need to find a different kind of customer and pioneer a different method of sales. But it’s been worth it — because my customers & clients must trust themselves to take action on new ideas & grow their businesses. My business isn’t contributing to the quickfixification of learning.
Instead, my products rely on relationships & experience to nurture self-trust instead of destroy it.
Are you on a quest for answers or a quest for self-trust?
These might be your personal barriers to self-trust:
Lack of Experience – Without a lot of experience to fall back on, it’s tempting to find validation from outside sources. Answers can easily replace actions. But lack of experience is actually a great place to be. The beauty of ignorance is that, with a healthy dose of self-trust, established norms and best practices just don’t exist. You’re more likely to create something fresh & beautiful without the influence of your own experience.
Lack of Success – When you’ve tried & failed, it can be easy for distrust to creep into your planning (or lack thereof). Instead, failure should be a key source of trust. Failures – big & small – mean you’ve acted. And in acting, you’ve learned. Examine your failures, don’t ignore them. Discover what they have to teach you about trusting the process.
Others Success – When your eye is on the cool kids instead of your own affairs, it’s ridiculously difficult to trust yourself. You assume they have all the answers: if only they would share those answers with you! But others answers are not your own. It’s your job to create your own answers — eyes on your own paper.
Never Starting – Will you get stronger if you don’t exercise? Nope. So why do you hope to gain trust in our ability to plan, prioritize, and grow your business if you don’t exercise trust? There will never be a better time to start than now.
Self-trust is the key to trusting your business. If you don’t trust your business, why would your customers? You alone can take the information, ideas, and inputs from all around you and turn them into a plan that creates growth. You alone can take the actions that will build the trust you need to do it all again.
Support? Yeah, we’ve got that. A framework? Sure. But don’t look to any expert for answers. Trust yourself to discover your own.
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Make Your Mark – a group coaching program designed to foster your trust in your great work & its ability to create great wealth – opens for registration on October 1. Click here to register for first dibs on this business-changing program.
