When we first begin our businesses, it can feel hard to create consistency and show up daily. This is especially true if we have another job or commitment that is still part of our lives. Being willing to do the uncomfortable work of showing up daily (even when we don’t want to) is what sets us apart from the other business owners.
If you show up daily, your business will grow daily. It’s as simple as that.
I am coming up on three years in business, multi-six figures, staying on track for my 2019 income goals, just closed out the FOURTH round of A Lit Up Partnership, and have clients that are killing it (we’re talking two that just closed out May with their first $10k months!).
And do you know what one of the things that I attribute that success to? No, it wasn’t learning a sales script or finding a 5-step blueprint to 25k months.
It was getting comfortable being uncomfortable. It was being comfortable enough to take BOLD action that created my BIG results.
I see too many entrepreneurs staying stuck because they’re not willing to consistently go outside of their comfort zone. Here are 4 things you may not be doing in your biz that are holding you back.
1. Take more risks
Do you have a willingness to take risks? It’s incredibly challenging to be an entrepreneur if you aren’t willing to take risks. But let’s be real… most people aren’t good at taking risks, and most people will tell you not to.
Why? Because it’s too uncomfortable. Because they’re too risk adverse, and they don’t know how to self-manage around it.
Personally, when I made major investments in my business like hiring a business mentor and growing my team I was uncomfortable. It didn’t feel super warm and fuzzy. It felt scary as hell. Yet, had I not done those things I wouldn’t have grown nearly as quickly as I have. The willingness to take risks and get uncomfortable is what allowed that to happen.
2. Be willing to fail…and being ok with it
In order to succeed, you gotta be willing to fail — and pick yourself back up after. What’s that saying? If you’re not failing you’re not trying? Yeah, that.
If you don’t ever fail as an entrepreneur, you’ll definitely never fly. If you were planning on making it through this entrepreneurial journey without a scratch, bruise or a bump you should probably just pack it up and head back to corporate now.
Seriously, the faster you fail the faster you grow.
But if you can’t get comfortable failing, you won’t be able to create big results either. When I fail, I am massively uncomfortable, but I’m also massively motivated to take what I learned and move on. But if we’re never willing to get uncomfortable enough to fail we’ll stay stuck forever
3. Doing the hard stuff in your business
There are SO many things that feel “hard” when you start your business. For some it’s creating content, for some it’s getting visible, and for others it’s keeping track of their numbers/bookkeeping. What I hear a lot of people say is to outsource the stuff that doesn’t feel good, and while I am a big fan of working in your zone of genius and outsourcing the rest, that is not always a viable option at the beginning.
That leaves you with two choices… get comfortable doing the hard stuff, or stay nice and stuck. Being available to be uncomfortable while you learn about and familiarize yourself with the hard stuff will take you from stuck to success much more quickly.
Trust me, posting content on Facebook, growing my team, going on podcasts, etc. did NOT feel comfortable in the beginning for me, but my willingness to move through the discomfort changed everything.
4. Be an innovator
Innovation is not comfortable. Especially if it’s not something we’re naturally good at. But I challenge you to show me one thought leader or massively successful business owner that WASN’T innovative in some way.
Moral of the story? Getting comfortable being uncomfortable is what lets your creativity flow. It’s what welcomes innovation and allows you the chance to execute on it.
Why? Because you’re not afraid of failing, of taking risks, and of doing the scary thing.
Some of the biggest opportunities and results in my business have come from a willingness and a desire to be innovative and to manage the discomfort that comes along with it. It’s in that discomfort that we learn what we’re really made of, what we stand for, and what it is we want to do in this lifetime. It’s through that uncomfortable process of self-discovery that we realize all of the amazing things that are possible for us.
As one of my favorite people Neale Donald Walsch says, “Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.”