J.K. Rowling, author of the wildly successful Harry Potter series, once said she was the biggest failure she knew, and credits her success to her failure.
A divorced mom living on welfare while attending school, Rawling said her failure allowed her to strip away the inessential. She stopped pretending she was anything other than what she was, and began to direct her energy to the only work that mattered – writing her first novel.
“I was set free, because my greatest fear had been realized, and I was still alive, and I still had a daughter whom I adored, and I had an old typewriter, and a big idea,” she said in a Harvard commencement speech. And so rock bottom became a solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.”
Stockbroker Henry S. Haskins said it this way: “Panic at the thought of doing … is a challenge to do it.”
Does fear of the unknown keep you from pursuing your dreams?
Ernest Hemingway called courage “grace under pressure.” Did you know you could make yourself more courageous? It’s true. Research has found acting courageously requires an understanding of your fears, as well as limitations — denial of fear does not support courageous action. Repeatedly forcing yourself to face what you’re afraid of lowers the psychological fear response until it’s more easily managed. Sometimes, it even goes away.
When it comes to starting your own business, what are your biggest fears?
Let’s think about FEAR in the following terms: Facts. Exposing. Alternative. Reality. And we can bring this to light by determining if our FEAR is actually False. Evidence. Appearing. Real.
Do you think that your fears would be alleviated if someone helped you determine the truths of the franchise company? What if some of the negative reactions from those naysayers in your life were actually their fears talking, and exposing a hint of jealousy at your ability to make a decision that could positively help you and your family?
This is one of my favorite narratives. I shared it often when I was running my fitness business, and helping people understand that sometimes in order to lose weight, they needed to eliminate the crabby people in their life. The story also makes sense when viewed through the lens of potential business ownership.
On one sunny afternoon a man was walking along the beach and saw another man fishing in the surf with a bait bucket beside him. As he drew closer, he saw that the bait bucket had no lid and had live crabs inside. “Why don’t you cover your bucket so the crabs won’t escape?” he asked. “You don’t understand.” the man replied. “If there is one crab in the bucket it would surely crawl out very quickly. However, when there are many crabs in the bucket, if one tries to crawl up the side, the others will grab hold of it and pull it back down so that it will share the same fate as the rest of them.”
Can you relate to this story? This is very typical with human beings. In fact, we see this happening in our communities and groups all the time. If someone tries to do something different, maybe get better grades, improve his or herself, escape from negative people, pave a different path for themselves, or dream big, other people – especially those who cannot do anything, or are too fearful, will try to drag him/her back down to share their fate at the bottom.
The moral lesson: Ignore the crabs. Fire ahead and do what is right for you. Here comes a tough question; do you have crabs in your life? If so, who are they? Listen to me when I say, It is too early to speak to people about your consideration. Do your research. Arm yourself with facts and evidence before you lightly bring up this topic to the crabs. Right now, you are in education and research mode, and you don’t know enough to be armed against those who fear what they don’t know.
The key to purchasing your first franchise is to take things slowly and systematically. Jumping in without all the facts will leave you with many regrets. When Francis Bacon said knowledge is power, he wasn’t kidding. Check out our FREE franchise education resources above, and start gaining that power!