What most business owners misunderstand about "doing it scared" and how to think differently about your comfort zone
I have always had a pretty high risk tolerance.
I’ve been known to do things that prompted friends and family to tell me I was being irresponsible.
Things like…
🌴Quitting a job without having another one lined up
🌴Making a cross-country move with EITHER a place to live OR a job secured not both (3 times)
🌴Starting a business after 1 year of being unemployed, in the middle of the hardest personal transition I’ve ever experienced
🌴Moving to another country where I knew nobody except for my cat
I didn’t do all of these things because I’m a thrill-seeker.
And I can’t tell you that I wasn’t afraid. I WAS ALWAYS afraid.
I did them because I just KNEW what I wanted and was determined to go after it.
I trusted myself to figure it out as I went. And my trust was greater than my fear.
This may sound just like you, or the exact opposite of you.
But knowing where you sit on the comfort zone continuum will help you be a better CEO.
There’s SO MUCH advice out there on how to run your business and it’s based on someone else’s version of risk tolerance (and their skills, business model, etc). Here’s what I did so it’ll work for you too.
“They” tell you to…
Invest in a coach/expert/team member BEFORE you have the actual cash to pay for it, because you have to spend money to make money and the ROI will come back to you
NEVER do this above, and focus first on creating a comfy-cozy savings account
Post on social media minimum once per day
Only post on social media when you have a GREAT piece of content, even if it’s once a month
Force yourself to get on camera and record videos because you have to get visible in this specific way
Do speaking engagements because that’s how you can expand your reach into other people’s audiences.
👆Every single one of these things is something a client has brought to me to help them think through 👆
Each one may be right, but it depends...on YOU, your genius, and your business model.
And I’m on a mission to help you run YOUR business, not just A business…
What if you’re an introvert who works on a computer most of the day with very few calls needed to do your job well
Public speaking is probably not your jam and it doesn’t need to be. And unless you’re interested in learning it, it’ll just pull you away from the strategies that are easier for you to sign clients.
If you’re a perfectionist who takes forever to write a piece of content, the advice to wait until it’s GREAT just feeds into your fears and insecurities and keeps you playing small and never sharing your thought leadership with the world.
And even if you’re like me and you have a high risk tolerance, doing things like this once every 5ish years (like I did above) may absolutely work for your personal life.
But running your business like this and making BIG sweeping changes every 6-12 months is too much change (as a former change management consultant, trust me, it's too much).
As an entrepreneur, running at literally every single opportunity you have to “get out of your comfort zone” and “be uncomfortable” and push yourself to double your income every year….
You. Will. Burn. Out.
I’m all for helping my clients get out of their comfort zone when they’re playing small. It’s half of my job.
But the other half?
I’m deeply committed to helping them to stay calm, clear-headed, and strategic in their decisions and their actions. So they can run their business in a way that’s healthy, profitable, and enjoyable.
Calm, clear-headed, strategic decisions do NOT come from a mindset of frenzied pressure, constant discomfort, and comfort zone pushing.
There is a balance. And it’s different for all of us.
If you’re feeling pressure to take on more risk than you’re comfortable, or scared to jump outside of your comfort zone, this Think Differently is for you!
Check out the replay below!
LL