Guest Blogger: Allie B.
Fear of success; fear of failure. Do either of these bother you? I can’t tell you how many gray hairs I count every morning when I wake up. You can only dye your hair so much before it starts falling out. If you’re like me, then you’ve let the fear of failure consume your life. I know, it’s a scary world out there and losing your job is really scary. So let me elaborate on how one woman, me, overcame redundancy and got herself back on track despite her fear of failure.
My name’s Allie. I’m a part time nurse, part time eBay seller and a full time mom. I have two beautiful wacky, fun children, who also contribute to my new-born gray hair babies. I’m definitely not the Mom of the Year, and I’m probably not even a candidate for Mom of the Week. But that doesn’t mean I don’t constantly look for a happy medium, where my children are happy, my husband is content, and I’m still SANE!
When pregnant with my first child, I went on my 6 weeks maternity leave. However, before I could return to work, I had the rude awakening of being made redundant. Financial cut backs in our clinic had forced them to get rid of their top paid nurses and boo hoo, I was one of them. My ‘what if’ became my reality! I didn’t have a smile on my face that day, but I had lots of tears.
I wasn’t financially ready to deal with this new stuff that life had thrown at me. I barely had enough money saved to get through my maternity leave. What in the world was I going to do? So, I began a check list of things I wanted to do, places I might want to work, etc. And my list had thousands of possibilities with over ¾ of my ideas crossed out. But one thing kept bugging me and that was the determination to start my own BUSINESS.
Okay, so now this is what I wanted to do, but how in Bloody Sam’s Hell Tarnation was I going to do it? (You’ll have to get used to my Southern Belle humor). Seriously, the fear, fear, FEARS were setting in – ‘I can’t do it’, ‘no I could never’, and ‘I wouldn’t last’. Was it my fear of success or my fear of failure? Well maybe both, but definitely my fear of failure.
The fear of failure affects more than your self-confidence, it also affects your wallet. It stops you making the most of your great ideas and seeing where they take you. But instead of giving up, I forged on. I decided to do this the smart way; a way that would help my fear of failure slowly diminish and a way that would not threaten our financial situation. I decided to go back to nursing part time so that I could focus on ways to earn income by working at home. If one idea took off then that would be my niche.
I was a damn good nurse, and I wanted to continue doing it, but I was tired of being other people’s employee. I wanted to make my own hours as much as possible. So I did this in two ways. First, I went crawling back to my previous employer and let them know that I wanted to work for them on an ‘as needed basis’. So basically, when someone was sick or on vacation, they would call me to sub nurse. And you know what? They agreed – hey they kinda owed me for kicking me to the curb. Then I went to the offices of doctors I’d previously worked for, or ones that I’d had a lot of interactions with, and I sat with their office managers, and got some of them on board. This was a revelation for some as they either didn’t ever get the chance to have a sub nurse when someone was on leave, or they had to call in a temp. We all know that temp agencies charge an arm and a leg and then you have to train the temp in the way you run things – one big headache!
Okay, so now what to do for my new business venture. Oh, I had so many ideas, some realistic, some not. I decided to go for what felt easy and comfortable and well, seemed to have the least financial risks. So I did what I think most eBay sellers do first, that is have an eBay garage sale.
I went through my house and found stuff to sell. It was easy and I definitely needed to de-clutter. I was astounded how much money people were willing to pay for my JUNK! The saying really is true, ‘One woman’s junk is another woman’s treasure’.
Once I got rid of everything possible in my house without closing my estate, I began venturing out, seeking items that I could re-sell on eBay. At first it was slow, and I started to get discouraged but then Bam! I started realizing what sold, what didn’t and how to corner the auction market.
To many, my way of financial success may seem safe; but who cares! I’m making money. But I take huge risks in doing business this way. The better off I am, the more chances I take. For example, I will buy something for $100, and take the risk of it not selling. To me that’s a lot of money to risk, and if it doesn’t sell well then I am $100 poorer. If I am successful, well then I may be $100, $200, or even $300 richer. Merely by going out there, taking risks and action despite my fears, my situation has been transformed.
Now, is the time to STOP letting fear immobilize you. Your step toward financial success doesn’t have to be in quantum leaps. Everyone needs a starting place, but you have to get to that place in your soul, where you say, ‘Enough, Fear’. No more fear of success or FEAR of FAILURE!
Claudia Crawley helps women who’ve lost their jobs to overcome their fear of success or fear of failure and move on to a new life faster. Contact her here and find out how you can benefit from a coaching programme with Winning Pathways Coaching.
Allie has a blog where she showcases her eBay items for sale. Go follow her here. 