by Lana Antonova (Founder / Creative Director of WebVixxen Design)
“In the end we only regret the chances we didn’t take.”
On a daily basis we hear our friends complain about their jobs. This isn’t surprising. Most people are dissatisfied with their jobs. In fact, 70 percent of Americans aren’t engaged by what they do for a living. There are around 120 million full-time workers in the U.S. right now and 84 million of them don’t really like their jobs.
Are you one of them?
Running my own business was always a dream of mine. I was never interested in a stable job and a “dependable income”. I took on a few jobs, only to put food on my table. Perhaps that comes from being born in Russia where your life was pretty much dictated from an early age. So upon coming to the States, I wanted to break free.
I quickly realized the nine-to-five life just wasn’t for me. I began entertaining the idea of starting my own business but kept putting on the breaks. Eventually, I realized I needed to face my fears head-on.
Here are the 4 biggest fears I had to overcome.
1. Failure
Imagine putting everything you have — your hopes, dreams and finances — into starting your own business, only to watch it crash and burn. According to psychologists, the fear of failure is at the very top of the totem pole above the fear of separation and loss of autonomy.
How I overcame this fear: I had to redefine success. I realized it wasn’t enough for me to be at a decent job with decent pay — security wasn’t my definition of success. For me, success meant chasing my dreams and achieving my goals. That’s when I realized I’d be failing by staying at the nine-to-five job. I love challenges and when things came too easy, I got uninspired very quickly.
2. Inadequacy
Before I started my own company, there was a voice in my head telling me no one would take me seriously, since it was an industry I didn’t know much about. That they’d see me for what I was — an impostor.
How I triumphed over this fear: I was an avid learner. I was self-taught…a lot of sleepless nights with bibles on design & coding. I took on night classes and did everything I could (on the cheap) to know as much as I possibly could or enough to go into a room and convince a potential client to hire me. After securing my first client, the fear diminished.
3. Poverty
This was a big fear of mine. I grew up in Russia where we had very little, my parents ended up selling everything they owned to move the family to Australia, where making ends meet was even harder, not to mention the language barrier.
How I let go of this fear: I had to find a believe system, at that point I came across the Law Of Attraction, which changed my life forever. I practiced it daily. I started to believe I was destined to succeed. I used my hardships as a launching pad, and instead of being a victim, I chose to be a creator.
4. Success
If you can believe it, the fear of success is very real. It plagues many people on the cusp of self-actualization and true independence.
How I stopped being scared: I knew that with success came new responsibilities, came change. In life and business it’s all about embracing change. “Don’t be afraid of change. You may lose something good, but you may gain something better.” I desired success. I desired a better life. Failure was not an option.
“I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can’t accept not trying.” — Michael Jordan
