Is the confidence you felt when you first launched your business starting to diminish a bit? It’s not uncommon. Even the most successful people at some time experience doubt. Billionaire Richard Branson wrote in a blog post a few years ago,
”Most people start off thinking their idea is amazing, then realize the difficulties and begin to question it and think it is rubbish. This then manifests into self-criticism and self-doubt. If you manage to make it past that stage, you find ways around the difficulties and start to think, actually this could work and you do a full circle to thinking, actually, this is pretty great.”
Establishing your spa or massage practice takes a lot of risk. The challenges of the past few years because of COVID-19 added to the uncertainty of running a business. Still, as Branson says, you find ways around the difficulty and realize just how great your business really is.
To help you regain your confidence, here are eight steps to take:
Think of previous successes: Reflect on what went right and recent achievements with each accomplishment being another step along the path toward reaching bigger goals. Give yourself full credit for your triumphs.
Get out of your comfort zone: Be willing to be uncomfortable for a while. You may need to talk to people you’ve never talked to before or do something you’ve never done before. Basically, you need to be willing to live with some discomfort for the short term to achieve what you want for the long term.
Set new goals: You want long-term goals, but you also need to establish attainable, short-term ones. When big goals aren’t immediately met, it’s easy to let doubt creep in. Achieving smaller goals along the way reinforces that you are on the right track.
Be decisive: Take action. Your inner doubt may be making you question yourself and get in your way taking decisive action. This is called self sabotage. Make a decision and commit to doing it, whatever it takes.
Face your fears: Face up to the things that scare you the most. Do a worst-case scenario in order to prepare yourself for setbacks.
Change your associations: If someone in your life is contributing to your self-doubt, make a change. Connect with people personally and professionally who encourage you to take risks and can offer advice to get you on the right track.
Get positive inputs: Find sources of information – online, in business books, experts in your field – to gain more knowledge in areas you are struggling with.
Change your self-talk: Change your perspective by the way you communicate with yourself. Is your glass half full or half empty? When your self-talk conveys optimism and confidence, you in turn change your behavior.
Don’t let self-doubt stop you in your tracks to success. Conquer it and continue on your path to achieving your goals.