An A-Z Guide to Working at Home with Kids: F

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Are you scared to grow or launch your business? Today’s post is all about fighting fear.

Identify Your Fears

Before you can fight your fears, you must figure out what you’re afraid of. Are you afraid of:

• Failure?
• Success?
• Letting everyone down?
• Somehow ruining your kids?
• Everything?

Did any of those ring a bell? I know they do for me! Or at least they did.

Then I realized something. I was getting so worked up by my fears. I realized if I would take half the mental energy I was devoting to being afraid and use it to actually do something, I’d probably make some progress.

It wasn’t easy, but it worked. Here are some steps I take whenever fear creeps in:

Pray

I know that God hasn’t given me a spirit of fear, and that he’ll give me the strength I need to overcome. Spending time in prayer definitely helps!

Get Specific

Saying you’re afraid of failing isn’t really specific. I’ve learned to really dive into my fears, and try to analyze them a bit. My most recent bout of fear of failure came down to a few things:

• Not believing in myself and my abilities
• Focusing on all the others out there who made it so much more quickly than I have
• Thinking that because I didn’t have as much time as others (because I’m working with kids in the house) that I’d never be able to reach my goals

Writing down those fears brought relief. I was no longer carrying them around inside. They were down on paper, where I could see them. And after praying about them, I ripped up the paper and threw it in the dumpster. It was freeing!

Make a Plan of Action

Don’t let fear hold you back. Once you’ve figured out what you’re afraid of, find a way to fight back. Decide what you can do, and start taking action.

Here’s what I decided to do:

• Work more on finding my own voice
• Share the tips and strategies I’m confident in
• Make a pitching plan to land new gigs with clients who are perfect for my schedule

What can you do to help you take action instead of being afraid?

Change Your Mindset

There’s always going to be people out there doing better than you. There are tons doing better than me!

But, I can either stop trying because I’ll never measure up to some standard some part of my brain made, or I can move forward and be the best me I can be.

I decided to change my mindset and move forward. I know:

• I’m just a work in progress; there will ALWAYS be parts of my business and websites I’m not happy with
• Perfection isn’t attainable, so I shouldn’t shoot for it
• My kids are benefiting from my business

By focusing on the positive and things that I have control over, I’m able to fight fear. It no longer stops me from moving forward.

Remember that Others Also Fear

You aren’t alone in your fears! If you’re able to chat with someone else who is also trying to grow a business with kids, and I’m sure you’ll realize that many of your fears are common. Talking with someone else can help you overcome your own fears.

What other tips can you add to help other fight fear?

Please share your ideas in the comments. Working from home with kids is challenging, and fear is very real. But, you don’t have to let it stop you from starting, or growing, a business.