5 Ways to Breakthrough Fear in Your Coaching Business! | By Ruby McGuire

Ruby McGuire - Fear doesn't have to rule you

Fear doesn't have to rule you. Try these fear-busting tips in your Coaching Biz!

As business owners, well let's be honest, as people, we can so easily get caught up in the 'What if I'm not good enough?' trap. We're fine for a few days and then BAM!, something gets us into the wrong mindset and off we spiral into our inner critic stuff.

I see it time and time again with my clients, and I've had it happen time and time again with me too.

The truth is that fear can keep you invisible in your business.

If you're not telling people about what you do then you're the world's best kept secret. Ruby McGuire

You have to step up and be brave, push through your comfort zones, and then allow things to happen in their own sweet time.

A key challenge of being your own boss...

One of the challenges of being a business owner is that on one hand you get to create lots of amazing things and put them out into the world when you want. No red tape. No meetings. No boss to answer to.

But, on the other hand, you don't get validation from colleagues or your boss. There isn't someone checking what you're doing to make sure it's okay. And there's a lot of trial, error and guesswork.

In some ways, that's the fun of being a business owner. Tweaking, testing, adapting, trying out new things, playing with lots of different ideas. And it can also be our ruination - because we play out lots of 'what if' scenarios that terrify the life out of us, so we do absolutely nothing.

Getting past the fear

So how do you clear the fear? Well, you don't really. BUT by taking small action steps you will find that things become easier.

Here are 5 Simple Steps to Breakthrough Your Fear:

1. Get Accountability!

Tell someone what you want to do. I find once you declare it out loud to someone you're more likely to do it!

I have as many as 5 accountability partners at any one time. They all help me with different aspects of my business - can you tell that I like being held accountable? The accountability partners I work with won't pander to my excuses. They'll tell it to me straight if they think I'm procrastinating or acting from a place of fear.

Another idea is to be brave and share on social media - declaring what you're working on out loud and finding some accountability that way. I always find that one gets me moving!

Action: Think of someone that you'd love to work with as an accountability partner, whether it's a business friend/coach/mentor. Reach out to that person and ask if they will support you.

2. Get The Support You Need and Put it in Perspective

You're not being chased by a tiger (although it might feel like that sometimes). Often it feels like there's a lot at stake which is why it's important to reframe what's happening and explore other perspectives.

If you're NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) trained you'll be familiar with the exercise, "Perceptual Positions". This is where you work with your client to view an issue from various perspectives. This allows your client to see things from different points of view and get new insights. It's amazing the shifts that clients get when they do this exercise. When you step back from the problem, you can often see come up with lots of creative ideas.

It's easy to catastrophize how things might turn out. Instead start to challenge some of the distorted thoughts that you have.

Action: Ask yourself simple questions like these:

  • What's the truth here about this situation?
  • What story am I telling myself?
  • What might be a better way of thinking about this scenario/issue?
  • What could I tell myself that would be more empowering?

If you are finding it challenging to get a fresh perspective on your own, then talk it over with a friend, colleague or coach. Get the support you need.

3. Step Up & Challenge Yourself to Be More Brave

What one thing would you love to do but keep putting off because you're scared? I set my clients what I call 'Mini Dares' where I dare them to take brave action. This has resulted in my clients taking bigger action in their businesses, including things like starting to write books, signing up new clients, holding webinars and more.

If you get into a playful energy with this you can also have fun challenging yourself. I know, right, who knew?!

Personally I love challenging myself to reach out to people individually and then invite them to have a chat with me. I love the conversations I end up having with people through the process, and nine times out of ten it brings in more clients as a result.

Action: Set yourself a mini dare that you will challenge yourself on this month.

4. Practice 10 Seconds of Bravery

It's easy to start procrastinating when we think of a 'scary' task that we need to accomplish, but often it only takes 10 seconds of bravery.

The idea of '10 seconds of bravery' comes from the film "We Bought A Zoo" where a guy tells his son (I think!) that all he needs is 10 seconds of bravery to do anything. It's SO true.

You can create a whole story around what might happen, when just 10 seconds can make a big difference,.

So, whether it's a conversation with a client where you share how much it will cost to work with you, hitting 'publish' on a blog post or going 'live' on a Facebook Live, what could you achieve if you practiced just 10 seconds of bravery?

Action: Choose one thing that you could do this week that will take 10 seconds of bravery. DO IT!

5. What Do You Want MORE than the Fear?

  • You want that speaking gig? Ask for it.
  • You'd like to be a guest on someone else's podcast? Send them an email.
  • Want to have more clients in your business? Tell your potential client how you can help them and invite them to work with you.

Action: What have you been putting off? Instead of worrying, think about (and FOCUS on) what you want MORE than the fear. It really does work!

Wrap-up

How brave are you willing to be to create your dream business?

Don't look back on life and wish you'd been brave enough to ask for what you want. What's the worst that can happen? That they say, 'No'? Because I think you'll find that you've already got a 'No' because you haven't asked! 😉

So here's a quick recap of the 5 steps to get you moving through your fear:

  1. Get Accountability
  2. Get The Support You Need And Put It In Perspective
  3. Step Up And Challenge Yourself To Be More Brave
  4. Practice 10 Seconds Of Bravery
  5. Think About What You Want More Than Your Fear

Try this mantra on for size, "My Message is Bigger Than My Fear!"

Prepare, breathe in and be brave. You've got this!

Share in the comments which one of the fear busting steps you'll be taking. We'd love to hear from you.

Finally, check out her Visibility Quiz, where you can find out just how visible you really are!

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Contributing Author:

Ruby McGuire is a Business & Mindset Queen. She's an Accredited Master Coach & Master Mentor with the IAPC&M, Trainer, Inspirational Speaker and Author of multiple books. She loves helping her clients step up and become leaders (aka Queens) of their businesses. She helps her clients develop their leadership and business skills, create a success mindset and attract dreamy clients. She is a Brit on a mission to live a simpler life without marketing on social media so that she can spend more time in her beautiful Scottish surroundings. You can find her at her pretty online home, over on her podcast show, Rock Your Fabulous Biz, and here where she shares her Mini Guide to Marketing Without Social Media. When she’s not working you’ll find her surrounded by books, making hand-made cards, and enjoying life with her hubby, little dog and chickens (usually with a Whittard Vanilla cappuccino in her hand)!

Learn more about Ruby & see all their articles here >>

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