Overcoming Feelings of Doubt & Discouragement in Business

All too often those feelings of doubt and discouragement plague us bloggers and creatives.  Human nature works against us everyday, in addition to the rest of the world with it comes to feeling less than enough.  Everywhere we look there’s someone doing better than us, someone hating on us, and someone on the come up that appears to be a threat to us.

As a creative entrepreneur, I’ve experience each of these feelings at some point.  I see plenty of other established creative entrepreneurs who appear to have it all together all the time.  Especially in the perfect world of Instagram, full of pretty desktops, beautiful inspiration boards, and overall gorgeousness its so easy to feel like you just don’t make the cut.  I’m sharing a few ways you can work through feeling these emotions, how to turn them into productivity, and how to guard yourself against them.

1. Limit your time on social media  

   Don’t spend day in and day out scrolling through timelines or feeds looking at what others are doing. Enjoy doing this at allocated times, especially if you use social media to promote your product or service. However, don’t get so caught up and fall into the rabbit hole of social media. This takes valuable time away from your business and focus.

2. Realize that most everyone’s been where you’re at 

   Most people don’t have instant success, so that very person you’re looking at and comparing yourself to most likely felt the same way you feel…and not that long ago. If you were to ask them, they’d probably tell you that they spent many day and nights feeling the same way.

   [Tweet “Realize that most everyone’s been where you’re at. Most people don’t have instant success!”]

3. Shift your focus

   Concentrate on your business and not everyone else’s.  Who cares if you’re the little guy right now?  If you’re truly passionate about what your doing and its in your heart, you will grow and be successful.

   [Tweet “If you’re truly passionate about what your doing and its in your heart, you will grow and be successful.”]

4. Be your own cheerleader

   No one will cheer you on like yourself.  Don’t look for other’s approval and support of your product or service, and use it as a determinant of how successful you are.  Yes, community is important, but it takes time to build.  If you’re passionate and authentic, it will resonate with others and they will support and promote you…in due time.

   [Tweet “If you’re passionate and authentic, it will resonate with others and they will support and promote you…in due time.”]

5. Patience is everything

   I speak very honestly and frankly when I say I’m a hugely impatient person.  When I have an idea, I expect to put it into action and it immediately hits the masses.  My ambition gets the best of me, and because of that discouragement soon follows when I don’t see that instant success.  Like the old saying, ‘anything good is worth waiting for’.  Keep those ambitious thoughts and excited emotions in perspective, and use them to drive more energy into your product or service.

   [Tweet “Keep ambitions and excited emotions in perspective, and use them to drive more energy into your product or service.”]

6. Content is king, shove comparison out the window

   The story, your story, behind your product is most important.  Looking at someone else’s story and thinking that yours isn’t compelling or garnering enough will only foster even more feelings of doubt and discouragement.  Tell your story, let it be your story and as long as you’re honest and you have heart behind your brand, people will respect that.  You don’t need to pull on heart strings to have a story, be yourself.  If you have a happy, uplifting story, share it and why its a part of your brand.  You just may lift someone’s spirits, and that someone may be a potential client or customer.

   [Tweet “Tell your story, let it be your story!”]

7. Where you invest your time, is where your results come from

   Make sure you’re investing your time on your brand and business, and improving it.  If you invest so much time into to someone else’s, then you might as well be working for them.  If you find yourself frequenting someone’s site more than you need or spending too much time following their every move on social media, your focus will not be on you, but them.  That time you spend following them, could be better spent brainstorming, being creative, and coming up with something new and exciting for your business.  Insure your actions support the results you want.  You’re the one making the moves, so make smart ones that don’t waste valuable time.

   [Tweet “Make sure you’re investing your time on your brand and business, and improving it.”]

Having feelings of doubt and discouragement are completely normal, but they don’t have to be your normal.  Feeling this way all the time or too often can negativity impact your goals and the success of your business.  We have to guard ourselves, sometimes from others who while at the same time may inspire us, also demotivate us.

Unfortunately, sometimes there can be a thin line between admiration and envy.  If you’re admiring a little too much, that probably means your tittering on the line of envy or worst being too inspired.  Spending your time improving you, your brand, and business.  Success can only be attained through knowledge, enrichment, and education.  The more you know about your business, not someone else’s, the better!

[Tweet “Success can only be obtained through knowledge, enrichment, and education.”]

Ever gone through feelings on doubt and discouragement? – How’d you cope?  Was it difficult to overcome?

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