Before I launched my business full-time, I was scared out of my mind. I didn’t have thousands of dollars saved up. I didn’t have many fallback plans. And I certainly didn’t have a defining moment where I “just knew” it was time.
I remember interviewing tons of entrepreneurs, including my dad, in hopes that their stories would give me inspiration to bite the bullet and just do it already.
In those conversations, I recognized three important values of an entrepreneur that is committed to making his or her passion into a full-time gig. These three pieces of advice are what ultimately helped me face my fears and launch my ideal business.
1. Launch and learn: You are never going to feel ready enough, comfortable enough, or knowledgeable enough. You are always going to want another degree, a better website, different branding, or the latest thing in health and wellness. But if you spend all your time trying to make these things perfect, you might miss out on opportunities. Websites can be perfected overtime, your Twitter account doesn’t have to be fully functioning, and you really don’t need a Vitamix for food demos. Seriously, many of these issues are just excuses because of the imaginary fear we’ve built up in our minds. If you get launched and move forward, you will have a better understanding about how you operate and function so you can make adaptations to best serve you and your clients!
2. Practice sacrifice: Ask yourself, “What am I willing to give up in order to truly feel free?” This was huge for me because I definitely enjoyed the finer things in life. However, I was so committed to my business that I was willing to sacrifice whatever I needed to make it work. I started small with immediate things like cable TV, eating out, and clothing. I also gave myself a limit on how far I was willing to sacrifice. For me, it came down to selling everything I owned and moving back home. Luckily, I never had to do that, but I was willing and ready to do it if needed!
3. Ask the tough question: The pinnacle moment for me is when I asked myself, “What is the worst thing that could possibly happen?” For me, the worst thing that could happen was that I would fail and have to move back to my parents’ house until I could temporarily find a job. When I put it in such plain and simple terms, I realized that even the worst possible scenario didn’t seem that bad. This helped me get to a place where I realized that even if I failed, I would be so happy that I faced my fear and went after my dreams!
Lindsey Smith, IIN Class of 2010, is also known as the Food Mood Girl and is an inspirational speaker and author. She is passionate about helping people understand that salads and smoothies won’t fix all their life problems, but once they get rid of the baggage they’ll feel empowered to do their body good and eat what makes them feel best. You can connect with Lindsey on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or Pinterest.
