Do you feel you are a fraud?

 

Do you know what – sometimes I go to write these blogs and think what a flipping fraud you are Lester. You dole out all this great advice but you are just a day back from holiday and already feeling overwhelmed, have got that rising anxiety in your belly and now you are writing a blog to support your fellow entrepreneurs? Well I am very very human – and just like you all I sometimes just wonder if I am going to do this big thing I am trying to do.

Sometimes – I’ll be really honest with you – I have doubt, concerns and fear even.  I look at the enormity of the task and feel like I am facing a tsunami. And it takes all I can muster sometimes to soldier on.  And I share that with you not for sympathy because I am just fine – but to share with you to say it’s okay – the very best feel just like you do on your worst day too.

A lot of great business people are very very hard on themselves – and you need to know this is not an admirable trait. It is limiting to be so self flagellating – and in a year when we have nearly doubled revenues again I for one should be – as my supporting directors have been very good at reminding me – focusing on the gains, and the achievements – and whilst acknowledging the gap, not FOCUS on that gap solely.

Most people are exactly the same.  Too hard on themselves, facing their fear, wondering if they are good enough. So you don’t have to feel alone if you feel like this. know it is part of the journey; know it happens to a vast majority of successful entrepreneurs and that it can be overcome.

Because, the most successful people in terms of their performance, business, life and careers learn to be far more proportionate in their response to such minor occurrences, would not be focusing on the stuff they haven’t got quite on top of and wouldn’t be looking at the whole picture and getting overwhelmed.

So I encourage you to look at the facts – what have you achieved in the past, what does your track record suggest, is your phone still ringing?  Bank your successes, look at your challenges through the eyes of others if you aren’t keeping it in proportion yourself, and chunk your task lists down into bite sized chunks – and do a nice bit of planning – and then just focus on completing the days tasks.  Work your plan.

Then bag that win for the day, give yourself a nice treat at the end of the day – I bought myself a nice platter of fruit and a hot chocolate. And I celebrated today’s success.

And rest assured that even the very top business people at some time in their business journey felt exactly the same.  I know every entrepreneur that has sold their business for a fortune, or established a mighty business far bigger than they every thought it would be as some point in their journey felt exactly the same. That one day their cover would be blown and the game would be up.  But it was just a feeling, and like all feelings it will pass.

So if you ever have that bit of doubt – stop, regroup, count your wins and reinvest in building back up that inner strength. You’re no fraud – you will be just as successful as you plan and believe you’ll be.

Take care.