I had a video playing and was only half paying attention when something he said struck a chord with me.  He said, “Fear ~ don’t let it close you off in your box.” I even played that part again!  I kept thinking about that all day and how I have let some of my fears close my box.

Fear is an unpleasant feeling that we get when we become afraid or worried that something bad is going to happen.

This is when the fight or flight response kicks in and most of the time this is a good thing.  When fear might not work in our best interest is when it prevents us from doing something that could help us grow or try something new.

Fear that closes us up in our box could be talking to strangers about our business or even worse, talking to friends and family about our business! That would be terrible for others to want to support us! (insert sarcasm here).  What if that person says no? What if they don’t like me anymore? Will they be insulted if I talk to them about it?  All of this can go through our head and then we talk ourselves out of it or freeze up and then it becomes a lost opportunity for everyone involved.

I have discovered recently that I can talk to anyone about anything IF it helps someone else.  I can tell you about my friend’s business or her blog with enthusiasm and commitment. So why do I struggle with promoting my own business or blog?  Why don’t I have the same enthusiasm and commitment to myself? Because deep down, or maybe not deep down, no one likes to be rejected.

To expand my own box, I need to use the same energy as if I was helping someone else. What would I say if I was talking about my friend’s business?  How would my business grow if used the same vigor? So, I tried it even with the fear of this going terribly wrong! And guess what? It didn’t go terribly wrong!  I started to build my confidence that I could talk to the next friend about my business and the more I did it the less the fear became.

It’s so easy to get caught up in your own head that you don’t move forward!  Don’t let fear cause you to go into the fight or flight response when talking to others about what is important to you.  Keep expanding that box until you feel comfortable with what you are doing, so you never feel the need to “step back” into your box!