How To Overcome Self Doubt And Launch Your Business Idea

In this episode of Ask Carrie, I want to talk about how you can get over your fear and launch your business idea.

So many people struggle when they have amazing ideas to create or launch something and they really want to put something out there, whether it’s a course, or a membership, or anything else – but there’s this little niggling fear in their mind…

“What if this isn’t good enough? What if people don’t like it? What if this is a complete flop?”

These thoughts keep us stuck. They keep us from creating and launching things and putting them out into the world.

If this is you, then I have 5 things that I want to share with you to help you overcome your fear, so that you can launch your ideas and turn them into a huge success.

Tip #1: Be Willing To Start Somewhere

If you have never done this before, you have to be willing to start somewhere. If you’ve never put your creation out into the world, then you have no way of knowing how it will be received. You might think it’s amazing and that it’s valuable, but you don’t know how other people are going to react to it, because you’ve never done it before. So it’s natural to fear if it’s good enough and to wonder if people are going to like it.

I still feel that fear now. Whenever I create something new, there’s a huge part of me that’s scared that people won’t like it. So firstly, it’s normal and we all experience this. But you have to be willing to start somewhere.

For example: if you’re starting to learn to play the piano, you’re going to be terrible and you’re not going to know how to be good at it, or how to play a really nice song. But if you get lessons and keep practising, you will get better and better.

It’s the same with launching: The first launch might not be that great. But as you get feedback, improve and progress, you are going to create something incredible. It doesn’t have to be perfect from the get go. You just have to be willing to get going with it.

So don’t hold yourself back because you’re trying to create this huge, amazing, incredible thing. Remember, we all have to start from square one. Focus on creating something that is where you’re at right now, what you can do right now, what you’ve got to work with right now.

You don’t have to be like Marie Forleo, Amy Porterfield, or FEA to get started, give yourself permission to be imperfect, to be a bit messy, just be willing to give it a try.

Tip #2: Try A Beta Launch

Give yourself permission to make this easier by doing a beta launch. You could tell people that you’re creating this programme, this product, this membership or whatever it is and that you would just love to get some feedback on it.

Just be honest with where you’re at. Be honest about the fact that you’ve got this idea, that you’re so passionate about it, that you believe it’s going to be impactful and helpful for so many people, but that you just want to get some feedback.

Allow people to go through your programme, or give your product to someone to test out and try and find out what they think. This feedback will help you to improve, make your products amazing and build confidence in yourself.

Once you’ve gained that feedback from people, then you could do a beta launch or give people a reduced price to go through the programme or experience the product you’ve created.

And again, it’s about building your confidence in it and just taking tiny steps. You don’t have to do this huge launch because that can feel scary and overwhelming. Make it easy for yourself. Just put it out there, ask a few people, join some groups online and see the reactions and feedback. It’s a really great place to start and so much easier than just going for a big launch right away.

Tip #3: Focus On The Positives

I want you to write out a list of all the reasons why you’re amazing and all the reasons why your creation is amazing!

So often we get hung up on our fears, doubts and worries. We question ourselves and self-sabotage and we pick everything apart. We forget why we’re doing it, why we’re capable of doing it, why what we’re creating is really valuable.

It’s so important to make a list of why you and your ideas are amazing and how that idea is going to help people, so that you can remind yourself that even though you might have these doubts, fears and worries, it doesn’t mean that what you’re creating isn’t good.

The doubts and the fears don’t have any connection to what you’re actually creating. So write down that list for yourself and keep it handy so that you can go over it when you’re having an “off day” or you need a pick-me-up.

Tip #4: Join Groups And Communities

Join groups on Facebook or other social media platforms where you will be surrounded by people who are going to cheer you on. Come and join us over in the Members’ Club! There are 1000s of women over there ready to cheer you on, help you and hold you accountable.

When it’s just you and no one else really knows you’re doing this thing, it’s easy to let the fears and the doubts hold you back, because there is only accountability to yourself. So often, we don’t actually hold ourselves accountable. We make up excuses and let our fears, doubts and worries take over and hold us back.

But when you’re part of a group and you have people championing you, cheering you on, holding you accountable, it’s so much more powerful and you’re so much more likely to make progress and get your programme or creation out into the world because you have that support there.

So you don’t have to do this alone. Go and get support, be surrounded by other people who get what you’re going through and who can help you and cheer you on so that you actually get it out into the world.

Tip #5: Look At The Bigger Picture

My final tip is to ask yourself, “what’s the worst that can happen?” So often we get caught up in the day-to-day, thinking that what we are experiencing and feeling right now is so huge that we can’t see past it. But if you zoom out of today and look at the bigger picture of life, you need to ask yourself how much it really matters if this doesn’t work out.

Even if it’s a flop and people don’t like it and ask for a refund, you’re going to learn so much from this experience and you’re going to have evolved. What you will pick up and learn will help you to create so much more success.

I have done launches before that have flopped and sometimes I feel like I have learned more from the failures than I ever have from the successes! You can always use all that knowledge and information to help make your creation better, to help you improve. You have to give yourself permission to be a bit crappy sometimes. Because we all start off not knowing what we’re doing and just winging it.

So give yourself permission to just wing it, because even though you might look at other people and think that they have it all together and that they’ve got it figured out: they likely don’t!

When you are looking back on your life, are you going to be more proud of yourself for taking the plunge and going for it, or for procrastinating? You know the answer. So make your future self proud and go for it!

One Final Thought

I’ll leave you with one last thought: so often I think about the fact that we are on this planet that hovers in blackness, in this universe that quite frankly, we don’t understand. But somehow we are here and we get one life: that is it. This is not a dress rehearsal.

So when I think about the things I want to create and the things I want to launch I just ask myself, “Is this something in my heart to do?” If it feels like it is, then I’m just going to do it because this is my life and I want to live it in the best way I can! I’m not going to let my fears hold me back and stop me from seeing what I could create and make.”

I don’t want to look back in however many years’ time and regret that I just sat on those ideas and didn’t give them a try. Don’t sit on your ideas, get them out into the world and make it easy, simple and doable.

Do it in a way that feels good for you, but know that it’s always going to be a little bit scary and that’s okay because you’re doing something incredible!

I hope you’ve enjoyed this episode and if you have any questions for me, leave a comment, or ask me over on Instagram @femaleentrepreneurassociation