This week several budding new Virtual Assistants and Wannabe VA’s shared with me the biggest barrier they are facing when it comes to their dream of starting a VA business – The fear of the unknown.
I get it.
I understand what they are dealing with and what you may be dealing with. I’ve been there. I have taken several BIG LEAPS in my entrepreneurial career, and every single time that fear has been present.
The time that sticks in my mind was when I decided to leave my full time job early in 2016 to go freelance as a Virtual Assistant.
I remember the feeling of fear as it ‘dawned’ on me that I just wasn’t willing to spend my days that way any more, in a hot office, sitting at a desk for the best part of 8 hours, doing (sometimes) meaningless tasks set for me by someone else…
Even though I knew I was done with that life (my soul was making that clear and I was willing to listen) I STILL felt the fear of the unknown. My brain began working over time – “What if you cannot get enough work, what if all the freelance clients you’ve already got drop you? What if you can’t pay the bills? You will become destitute – you will end up living on your mum’s coach and everyone will know you are a failure! They will point and laugh because you tried to escape the norm and do something different and you failed!”
Sound familiar?
That voice, the one that incesently chatters about all the stuff that could go wrong, is just a negative voice from your monkey mind. We all have one it’s just that the successful people know how to quiet it down.
That voice was pretty loud when I was making my own leap this time. I remember one day almost calling a recruitment agency from work just to get something temporary lined up in case it all didn’t work out. Thankfully I was unable to find their number!
It’s a testament to how much I wanted it though, that I was willing to stack shelves in a supermarket part time or serve in a bar while I built up my freelance VA business. Lucky for me it didn’t come to that!
People who create what they want in their lives, such as a thriving VA business, take action despite that voice, despite their fear of the unknown.
What Is The Fear of the UnknownReally?
I was thinking about this question when I was on my walk in the countryside with my little dog Rosie yesterday, and this is what came to me…
For me fear of the unknown is really a fear about not being taken care of (by the Universe).
What I am really afraid of is not so unknown. I’m afraid of something bad happening to me if I dare to follow my dreams. When I looked into it namely the fear was about somehow not succeeding and not having any money (to wherever your disaster thinking ‘monkey mind’ likes to take from here…)
I believe these fears are learned from our society rather than being natural, still they are incredibly common.
What it boils down to is this – It’s a lack of faith.
So the question really becomes how do we develop faith?
The answer is through giving ourselves new experiences which are the opposite to the thing that we fear. In this case we can give ourselves experiences of being taken care of, and become aware of all the ways in which we are and have been taken care of throughout our lives. We can also give ourselves experiences of having small or large successes within our VA ventures.
You can learn to develop faith.
A Course in Miracles says that ‘Nothing real can be threatened and nothing unreal exists‘.
When Is The Right Time To Move Past Your Fear of the Unknown?
There is no ‘right time’ to go after your dreams, in fact as far as I can tell the only right time is right now!
Anything else is just putting it off because of the fear. Our lives fly by pretty quickly (I’m betting your almost half way through yours already, am I right?) What actions will you wish you had taken when you look back from your deathbed?
Do it now!
Set Yourself Up For Success To Help Ease Your Fear of the Unknown
Although I am a big advocate of taking the bull by the horns and going for your dreams in a big way, I’m also an advocate of women being really smart and setting themselves up for success.
There are things you can do to ease the transition into being a freelancer, things which can help you to feel a little more secure as you overcome your fear of the unknown.
Such as creating an emergency fund of money (at least a few months’ worth of all your expenses is ideal), getting some clients on the side beforequitting your job, taking a training course to skill up and doing some pro-bono work to gain experience where necessary.
One thing leads to another and your job today is to just take the next positive step.
That said for me in the end I got to a point where I simply wasn’t willing to wait anymore! I wasn’t willing to put off my health, happiness and life purpose for a moment longer. So I knew that I would find a way to make it work! I had to.
My Top Tips For Dealing With Your Fear of the Unknown
- Learn how to identify and quiet down the ‘monkey mind’ negative voice.
- Write down your dreams – create your ideal vision for your life and your VA business.
- Take actions towards your dream every day despite your fear.
- Be smart and set things up to make your transition easy.
- Learn to develop FAITH.
Parting Thoughts On The Fear of the Unknown
I believe there are two types of people in this world, the ones who believe they can make things happen and the ones who believe that stuff happens to them. Which type of person are you?
Finally, I once heard this about fear which really resonates with me: FEAR is just False Evidence Appearing Real.
I hope what I have shared today will inspire you and help you to overcome your fear of the unknown. Let me know your thoughts and feelings in the comments section below.
With Love
Julie.
