This is a guest post by Nathan Hangen.
Bombs? What Bombs?
In August of 2008, just days after I’d arrived in Kabul, Afghanistan, our house was rocked by an explosion near the embassy, which was just several blocks away. Considering we were all asleep and had just arrived in country, we all jumped up with a “WTF?” expression on our face, and upon learning that the rocket attack was over, went back to bed.
Months later, I signed up for a 5K race at the embassy and at the last minute, decided to sleep in and skip the race (hey, it was 6AM!). Turns out that was a good decision, as there was an attack on the complex that day too.
With just a few months left in country, something similar happened, and a car bomb blew out the German Embassy, which was just yards away. We could see the smoke from our porch.
Now, I don’t tell you this to brag about my experience, or to try and pain a grim tale, because I know thousands of Soldiers that have fared far, far worse.
True Fear is Deeply Rooted
The reason I share these stories is that in most cases, where one gets used to fear, it stops existing. We learn that paralysis isn’t really an option, and in the end, simply adapt and get going with our lives. It’s that way in the Army, and it’s that way in business.
We’re all afraid of something, but we make the decision to continue with our lives, our business, and our pursuit of goals. This is the fear that comes head-on, and it’s something we’ve learned to manage.
But beyond that, behind the layers of fear that you and I are used to seeing, lies another fear that’s far more sinister and deceptive than you’d realize.
In Afghanistan, it could be the fear of an unfaithful spouse, or the fear of something happening to your family while you’re away. Although you don’t set out to fear these situations, and in many cases you don’t feel them directly, they are there, and they affect everything you do.
In business, this fear drives you to self-sabotage, bitterness, jealousy, and anxiety, and in most cases, you won’t even know it’s there. But it is there, and it has a propensity for killing entrepreneurial dreams.
This fear will keep you bouncing from one idea to the next, before any of them can bear fruit.
It will get you to burn out your email list.
It will deceive you into thinking that you’ve failed, even when you’ve just begun.
I Blame Gary Vaynerchuk
OK, so I don’t blame Gary, but it’s because of Gary that I know this exists. I interviewed Gary in late 2009, while we were preparing our book: Beyond Blogging, and when I asked him about backup plans he simply told me that he didn’t have one. He was “all in, 100%.”
At the time, I didn’t think much of it, but as I came to grips with what he said, and as I watched dozens of bloggers bounce from idea to idea, I realized that what he said was a bit of pure gold.
Gary was successful not because he wasn’t afraid or because he got lucky, but because he believed with 100% certainty that he was going to be successful. He devoted himself to Wine Library TV for years before it ever even came close to being profitable or productive.
He flipped the fear of failure around, and used it to fuel his success. As a result, he won.
Bloggers Tell a Different Tale
In the blogosphere though, I see people jump from idea to idea. I’ve done it, you’ve done it, we’ve all done it. Why?
It’s simple…
We’re afraid that our idea isn’t good enough and that if we use Gary’s model of working for years on something before it pays off, then we risk wasting that time should our business fail.
So we jump around, from blog to blog, from idea to idea, never really going all in, never really giving an idea a chance to flourish.
Our first blog gets boring, and we get a better idea, so we start a new one. Our 2nd blog just doesn’t feel right, so we go back, and forth, and back, and forth.
Does this sound familiar?
How to Fix It
The secret, if there is one, to being successful as a blogger is to spend time only on your best ideas. The obvious follow-up questions is – “How do I get my best ideas?”
My answer is this:
- Make only what you want to create.
- Create until completion.
- Understand the fear.
When dealing with ideas, it’s important to be honest with yourself, and to make sure that anything you devote 100% of your time and energy to is something that is in alignment with who you are, both as a person and a business.
When you force yourself to act on an idea to completion, your mind starts to be a bit more up front and honest. That great idea you were planning suddenly turns into a lame duck.
You quickly realize that only the best ideas deserve life, and that’s when you start to see them pop out of your subconscious. The trick is that you don’t get here if you act on every little bit of inspiration you receive.
Lastly, simply learn to watch out for those moments when fear is trying to rob you of your focus. Steven Pressfield would call this: The Resistance.
Tackle the Fear
Of course, fear will always exist, and you’ll wonder if you are wasting your time. And you could be, but if you’re vetting ideas in the way you should be, then you have a much higher chance of being happy in the long run.
A true artist makes something because they want to, not because they’re hoping for a payday. If you are hopping from idea to idea, then I can almost guarantee that your mindset has shifted from “what do I want to create” to “how can I make more money?”
When this happens, it’s easy to lose sight of what’s important to you, and that’s how we end up idea bouncing.
Look, the fear of being wrong never goes away. I’ve talked with everyone from successful bloggers to multi-millionaires, and all of them say the same thing.
I’m Worried I’ll Lose It All.
The difference between them and the idea hoppers is that they trust their strength, intuition, and purpose. They learn how to navigate the fear rather than let it get them. They kept going, even when their mind was screaming not to.
Your mind can play serious tricks on you, but realize that if you want to build a successful blogging business, then you have to be willing to risk years of hard work. In order to reach the goals you’ve set, you have to be willing to never reach them. That’s the crux of the entrepreneur, and I wouldn’t trade it for my life.
There’s No Bettter Time than Now
It’s because of issues like this that I partnered up with amazing superpower coach Karl Staib, and 14 other creative entrepreneurs in order to create a mind blowing and inspirational experience, called Fear to Fuel. It features a complete course on how to tackle fear, 14 interview sessions with creatives like Tony Hsieh, Hugh MacLeod, and John T Unger, and a boat load of action guides, transcripts, and bonus content.
And guess what? As part of our “destroy fear” week, I’ve prepared a completely free session for you to grab today. It’s a 45 minute audio interview with best-selling author, Gretchen Rubin, who left her job as an aid to the Supreme Court in order to pursue a career as an author. Click here to go listen, her story is simply remarkable.
Nathan Hangen is an entrepreneur, author, and empire builder. Want to learn more about success as a creative entrepreneur? Click here to grab a free audio interview with bestselling author, Gretchen Rubin.
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