So many businesses are failing these days. It’s hard and it’s scary. But what will really make you fail?

A lack of confidence resulting in paralyzing fears. These fears can stop you from truly achieving your dreams and goals. They can be detrimental to you and your home business, even more so in these times.

What in the world do I know about these fears? Well, quite a lot, actually, a whole lot! Because there are many times that I have been negatively affected by fears.

For me, that fear is a fear of rejection and at the core of that a fear that God will not take care of me. I’m afraid that no one will notice me, that what I have to offer doesn’t matter, that I don’t matter. I recognized that these fears stemmed from childhood, that my whole life I had been marginalizing myself. That I was putting myself down, which resulted in a lack of opportunity and lack of growth in my business.

And even though I’ve known this for quite awhile, these fears can still overtake me.

Likewise, fear of business failure was also a huge burden to me personally. What if I don’t make enough sales after doing all this work and then I have to close down the business? What if it never gets better? What if, what if? What if I’m on an endless treadmill and I’ll never get off? That would run through my mind over and over again.

Early on in my business, I lost many opportunities due to this fear. Some amazing possibility would open up, and I would sabotage it because I was afraid. Sure, it wasn’t on purpose, but I was working against myself. My fear ranged from fear of speaking in public to an all out fear of success. Yes, you can be afraid of success! I was because I thought I was not worthy of it! And if I was successful, how could I keep living up to expectations?

What I realized after much failure and disappointment is yes, I am NOT worthy. I am nobody and nothing without Jesus. This became my mantra and still is. He gave me this business. He is my boss. He will make it a success, DESPITE me! I don’t need to be a success for him to accept me. I don’t need to be a success to be worthy.

This change of thinking got me to a point where I could take risks and step out of my comfort zone. And boy howdy am I doing that! At this writing, my team and I are performing a skit at a vendor fair this coming Saturday where senators and governor candidates will be speaking!

So flash forward to this last year. Oh wow, this last six months have been particularly frightening. Not just for me, but for so many.

Yes, I still have fears. There are some issues I need to work through. As I said before, I’m stepping out. And through these troubled times I’m continually releasing my burdens. Guess what, so far God has taken care of me. In fact, I rather suspect He will KEEP taking care of me!

I used to be so afraid of speaking in public, let alone being part of a play. Now I love speaking and acting and I want to do more of it!

I felt the fear and I did it anyway! And I can tell you it was worth it! It will be worth it on Saturday when we do our skit.

Ultimately, God gave me these dreams, ideas, and gifts. My job is to plant seeds and trust Him for the harvest. What I have to offer has value and can help transform people’s lives. I had to come to a place of believing that. After all, if I don’t believe in myself, how will anyone else believe in me? Because if I don’t believe what I have to offer is valuable, my prospects will not believe it! But the opposite is true also. When I am confident about the products and services I offer, that they serve a need out there, then others have confidence in me and I gain trust and credibility. It is an attraction process. By being authentically me, prospects are magnetized to me and want to know more about what I do and what I have to offer. This is all a part of branding.

So feeling the fear and doing it anyway is a really important skill for a business owner to master! And it’s very important in these times!

So what is it that you are afraid of? Allow Christ’s perfect love to drive out this fear. Especially don’t let this “phobic plague” get to you. Get out of your comfort zones and seize opportunities when you are presented with them, if these opportunities align with your passions and callings. Feel the fear and do it anyway!

If you do, you will ignite your business!