There’s something about Thursdays and my creative writing juices. I’ve been trying to get a post out all week and it didn’t come until today. 

I want to touch on my experience on breaking away from fear, because if there’s anything I think I have too much of, it’s fear. 

I grew up a “good kid”. I wasn’t always one but I feel like my mom disciplined me to the point where I just always followed the rules and did everything just right. this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, except it sometimes cripples you from doing ALOT. So when it came to running my business, I wasn’t only afraid to start, I was afraid to fail. 

I didn’t want to be that chic who started like everyone else and couldn’t finish, so I convinced myself it was better to play it safe and stick to my 9 to 5.

That was working out fine aside from the fact that I couldn’t keep Porschstores out of my mind. Porschstores is probably the longest committed relationship I’ve ever had. 

In 2013, my friend convinced me to give this idea that was plaguing me a chance to come to life and these are ways I’ve overcome fear each step of the way. 

I Jumped & tried not to drown: In a post before I mentioned how I jumped into Porschstores. Now, I didn’t jump without having some kind of plan or idea. I had everything needed to get things up and running for starters and then every other thing that needed to make the journey smooth still keeps getting added. The thing is, the biggest problem is starting and sometimes we overthink ourselves into failure.  Yes, because if you think so much to the point of talking yourself out of it, you’ve failed before even starting. So the key is to start and learn on the job. think about your 9 to 5, you didn’t have 100% knowledge of what you were supposed to do, but you learned on the job. The same goes for your business. 

I built my Confidence: This was actually a fake it till you make it kind of situation. When you’re not confident in yourself, you’ll second guess yourself a lot which makes you too scared to try anything or take a risk. And if you’re a business owner, you need to be able to take risks knowing that it might not yield anything and still be confident enough to trust your own judgment helps. When I reached out to Vendors or people I wanted to work with, I never reached out like a  scary cat and I never overestimated my business. But what I did do was exude confidence and professionalism. I started dressing like I wanted to be approached, I carried myself like I wanted to be seen. And spoke as my voice mattered. I would talk with so much confidence that you wouldn’t know I was peeing my pants. The results? this started reflecting on my brand and the way people saw it. #MissionAccomplished.

I educated myself: I have taught myself every single thing I know about my business. Studies show that people don’t go past the first page of Google, but I go to the 500th page. I don’t stop till I find what I’m looking for. I test, try, read, and ask questions. I don’t know everything, but knowing what I know from educating myself reduces the fear of making tough decisions and makes it a little easier. 

I turned to God: If there is anyone who knows you more than you know yourself, it’s God. And the most amazing thing is realizing that in His eyes you are perfection. And God has not given you a spirit of fear. So every time the devil tries to whisper or every time fear and doubts starts trying to creep in, I remember what God says and believes about me and I literally hold on to that till I believe it. Knowing that God wants you to succeed makes all the difference. That means your hands are blessed and whatever you touch shall prosper. You just need a little faith to believe and it’s yours.

Fear is a crippling bastard. Do you know that 90% of the things you fear are not even real? A lot of times they’re pigments of your imagination which causes you anxiety and cripples your move forward. 

I want to encourage you today to step out of your comfort zone and just jump. Your survival instincts won’t let you drown!

What are some ways you’ve overcome your fears, comment below I’d like to know!