Being self employed is relatively new for me. I set up my business a year and a half ago and before that I have always been employed…
Now that I think about it the main reason why I decided to become my own boss was that I didn’t like not being was able to really make my own decision and to move forward with things! Even as a manager there is always someone above you who has the last word to hold things back.
Now that I’m self employed I don’t have any excuse anymore. Nothing is holding me back but myself now… There is nobody to veto my ideas or actions but I still sometimes feel like something is holding me back. And only if we try to identify those things we will be able to free ourselves and move on from them.
Running your own business means that you are the only one responsible for making things happen. Here are 7 things that might be holding you back and my ideas of overcoming them:
1. Lack of Time
Time is usually one of the biggest investments when you start up a business. It takes time to get ideas and convert them into something tangible. It takes time to launch your service or product into the market and there is usually a huge amount of background work involved. Running your business alongside being a parent means that time is precious and very limited!
For me this means evaluating every single day what I spend my time on. What are the things that help me to move forward? What are the things that are unnecessary? Get rid of those distractions! There are things that have to be done but there are also things like spending too much time on Social Media and Netflix that are not helping me towards my goals!
Finding the right balance and choosing your priorities is so important and one of the most difficult things to get right. After all the long term goal for most of us is our happiness and that of our family!
2. Lack of Accountability
I’ve recently started coaching sessions with the lovely Kate Greenstock from Wild Rubies and this is probably one of the reasons why. When you’re self employed and especially when you’re starting out you’re the only one to hold yourself accountable. Nobody is there to support you or to question when you are actually going to do the things that you said you would do!
Sometimes you just need someone to be there, take an interest and support you. Friends and partners can only to do this to a certain extend so I have found networking groups online and offline with like-minded people to be really helpful.
This is another reason why I did the 30 days blogging challenge a couple of months ago because I wanted to improve my blogging and needed a support network and other people to hold me accountable for what I said I would do!
3. Lack of pressure
A manager is there for a reason and two of them are support and guidance but another one is to make sure things get done on time! Whilst I enjoy not having a manager I’m probably finding this one of the hardest things. I often like to leave things to the last minute so find that if I’m not under pressure to do things they won’t get done!
I can give my self deadlines of course and be my own manager. I’ve been using one of the Daily Greatness journals to help me to create some short term goals and I also find that once I write things down they magically get done!
4. Perfectionism
There are a lot of things that I haven’t done as much as I’d like to… Mainly because I’m trying to do them perfectly! Perfectionism (if there is such a thing as being perfect) can be good but it can also hold us back! When it comes to a point where you’d rather not do something because it might not be perfect then it’s maybe time to re-evaluate your expectations.
Working on my YouTube channel and live streaming are two of those things for me! I have been holding back for a long time as I think my expectations were too high. Quality is important of course but I am starting to realise that quality will improve along the way. There is no need to be perfect and what it is right now is good enough!
5. No vision / clarity
Maybe you know you want to do something but are not quite sure what? Or maybe you have sort of an idea but are not quite clear about how to get there? I’m at the very beginning of my coaching journey but I’m getting a sense of that the first thing that you need is a strong foundation to really be able to move forward.
What are your values, what is truly important to you. I believe that the clearer we see ourselves and our values the clearer it becomes what impact we want to make in the world.
6. Lack of Money
This is one that comes up all the time and maybe it should have been the first point but I don’t think it has to be as important as we often think it is!
Is not having any money holding you back or is it just an excuse? What can you do that doesn’t cost money? Using social media as my main marketing tool for example has saved me a lot of money. Do you need an initial investment to start your business or move forward to the next level? Why not try crowdfunding with Kickstarter or Indigogo for example!
7. Fear of failure
This is my final point and closely linked to point 4… trying to be perfect. I don’t have any pearls of wisdom unfortunately about how to overcome fear of failure. Sometimes it’s just enough to know that this is the thing that is holding you back.
Fear is good at the end of the day. It prevents us from getting hit by a car or getting hurt in other ways. Fear of failure is absolutely natural but fear of failure due to not being perfect is unrealistic and only holding you back!
I so agree with you, Christine! “Once I write things down they magically get done!” – I love that! A goal that’s not committed on paper is not goal at all.
Absolutely! It definitely works for me!
Great tips for helping so many I am sure. Time and money are always the hardest i think but some of it is just creative thinking and taking every opportunity for snippets of time #sharethejoylinky
Yes definitely. Sometimes we just have to find a way to think outside the box! Finding time is so hard with the kids around but as you say using snippets of time can really work!
Thanks Christine – very good reminders. I know them, I sometimes need a “gentle” push to take appropriate action. I think writing things down gives it a sense of permanency – it also helps me get things done. Once it is on paper it becomes real. #sharethejoylinky
Beautiful writing Christine. Love your blog xxx
Thank you so much Ayala x
A really good read and something I needed to see today, thank you for sharing Christine x
Thanks Jodie!
Yes to all of this and then I berate myself for it holding me back but seeing this in black and white does make me realise that sometimes the control is out of my hands! #sharethejoy
Completely agree!! And so easy to read 🙂
Christine I LOVE this post! As an entrepreneur (mompreneur, infopreneur….?) I agree with ALL of these points. It really does make you so conscious of how you spend your time and every decision is a trade off as there are just only so many hours in the day when you’re also a busy mama of two! But it’s the best decision I made and I’m loving every minute of it. I’d also add that it’s really important to make sure that you give yourself the space to have some down time. When you’re self-employed it can be easy to devote every minute of every day to your business but it’s important to make sure that you have some time for YOU as well. Thanks so much for joining us at #sharethejoy again lovely! x
Absolutely! It’s so important to look after ourselves. Unfortunately it often ends up at the bottom of my list or isn’t even on the list! Might have to change that ????