The #1 Thing Standing In Your Way In 2022

“Only when we are no longer afraid do we begin to live.”

Dorothy Thompson

Imagine this: you are sitting on the phone as it rings your most sought-after prospect. They could be worth millions in business to your company and landing them would garner you a lot of attention in the office. Not only do you have the best product for them, but you will legitimately solve real problems for them and their business.

Now imagine what the reality is: You’re envisioning of landing this top client, shaking hands on a hard-fought deal. But instead of implementing the steps to get you closer to your dream client, you feel fear. You begin to feel ill-prepared, what if they ask you a question you don’t know the answer to? You begin to hope it goes to voicemail (again) so you’re not faced with any challenges. When asked again by your manager of the progress on this dream client, you can respond again “Called again today, didn’t answer so left them a voicemail”. What if they call you back? What would happen if you stumbled on your words? What if…?

Living in fear, keeps us form taking the risks and chances to go for what we truly desire. It keeps us from finding reaching our full potential and enjoying more from our efforts and work.

Happiness isn’t defined by what you have; where you live; where you go; or the people you love. True happiness is a feeling. It’s something you feel deep inside about yourself and believe yourself to be. But to find it you must face the fears keeping you paralyzed.

When we have fears, we feel unsafe, we feel unsure, we lack confidence. Facing our fears and getting out of our comfort zone is hard because of how our brains are naturally hard wired to expect the worst-case scenario. Our brains naturally send us negative information because it is trying to keep you safe.

So how can you approach work in a way free of fear and be truly happy?

Every salesperson has fears. It’s normal. It’s how we react to them that makes the difference in how we feel. But you might find yourself weighed down with too much fear that’s preventing you from being truly happy. If that’s the case, it’s time to get familiar with your fears and find ways to work through them.

Here are 4 common fears and ideas to help you deal with them.

1. Fear of failure. This is a common fear, often stemming from our childhood. Fear of failing a test, for example. This fear brings on the feeling of being judged or embarrassed. In reality, failing is part of success. Overcome this fear by not worrying about the outcome and only focusing on the process of getting to success. At the end of the day, you don’t DO a result. Results come from following a process so by switching your focus from results to process helps avoid some of the fears associated with failure.
2. Fear of success. This fear stems from many different fears: fear of change, responsibilities, attention, vulnerability, and many others. The best way to overcome this fear is to focus on one step at a time while moving forward.
3. Fear of rejection. First off, if you’re in sales and you have a healthy fear of rejection you’ve picked a very interesting career. The fear of being rejected is a reaction to our innate need for belonging. It can include fears of being judged, not being liked, or being alone. To overcome this fear put yourself out there, reminding yourself that the right people will respond to you favorably. Detaching yourself from the outcome and focusing on the process also helps with the fear of rejection.
4. Fear of not being good enough. This fear is rooted in how we feel about ourselves. Our low self-esteem keeps us from not trying because of a lack of confidence. You can overcome this fear by starting small with things you know you can accomplish. Keep doing more steps to build your self-confidence. By consistently challenging yourself that when you feel this fear, and do it any way, you begin to build a resiliency to the fear of not being good enough.

We all have fears of some kind. They may seem rational to us but appear irrational to others. To overcome your fears, you need to understand why you have them and then work on facing them so you can begin to experience more joy in the work you do.