I’m Committed to Taking a Big Jump. Are You?

A year back, I mentioned  that jumping out of an airplane would be a cool bucket list thing to do.  I had just jumped off the Stratosphere in Las Vegas and this seemed like something I should do.

Fast forward to December and guess what my daughters, who are way too good to me, thought to give me for Christmas:  a tandem jump at a local skydiving place.  You know that abstractly, this seemed like a really cool idea.   Specifically now with an appointment to jump on August 8th, I can feelthe fear.

Fear is such a raw, innate emotion.  It is fueled by our will to survive to avoid dying.  Jumping out of a plane goes against that 100%.    This fear comes up blatantly when you decide  "jump" (pun intended) like I have. But in today's modern society, fear brings up other issues that aren't necessarily good for us.

I'm preparing  a presentation I'll be delivering next week and I'll be sharing about how I started my business.  As I've been preparing, I've reviewed struggles my wife and I have experienced to build this business.  Any business owners that's left corporate America and the consistent twice a month paycheck knows it's not easy.  For exampe, I really appreciate that the payroll I ran today was uneventful.  It hasn't always been that way.

The fear that can overtake me in ways that can be a big negative to my business comes up when:

• a client calls with an serious issue,
• a deal you expected doesn't work out,
• an employee makes a critical mistake that can cost you business or
• a vendor calls requesting payment for a bill that needs paying.

Fear of failing, fear of the unknown, fear of no one ever calling again asking for your services is very real.  How we deal with it is critical to our success.  Will it drive us to be our best so we can overcome the issue.  Will it overwhelm or cripple us keeping us from making positive decisions that move us forward.

Years back , I met with a colleague and talked about attending Infusionsoft's yearly user conference.  I had just discovered the product (Yes, the same Infusionsoft that's at the center of all we do here at LJIM) and believed it was something I should explore.  Their Infusionsoft user conference was coming up which would have been a great way to learn about it, but I didn't have the funds to pay for the trip.  I remember telling my colleague, "If I make this sale, I'm going to that conference."  My colleague, and I owe her a lot, told me point blank, "If you need to go to that conference, you figure out a way to go."   She saw my flawed thinking held back by fear and the mistake I could be making by missing out on this opportunity.

My business today focuses completely around the delivery of Infusionsoft solutions to our customers.   Without that weekend, our business and possibly my life would be drastically different.  It would have been a huge mistake to have fear hold me back then.

And it was easy to justify it to myself, my wife and others I knew.  I couldn't afford it.  If I had waited for that sale before deciding to attend, I would not have gone.  I would never have discovered and joined the Infusionsoft mastermind group that taught me not only Infusionsoft, but the essentials for generating sales for my business.   The customers I picked up from that group were super and the relationships I build as a results of that conference have been priceless.

I'm sure as a business owners we can all look at fears that have held us back or are holding us right now from making moves, decisions and taking chances that could be keeping us from opportunities.  It's you, your mind and your thinking over your innate emotions.  We're at odds.

I ask that you consider intervening and avoid regrets over what could have been a much better future for you.