Welcome to the latest episode of The Simply Smart Business Show. In this show I’ll be looking at the incredibly widespread fear of visibility, and sharing tips on how to move past it.
Listen to this episode here:
This is a topic I know well. You might not think it, now that I’m sat here with my very own podcast, but I have over a decade of stage fright under my belt.
With my first business, I decided I need to grow my profile, so I signed up for a series of speaking engagements. It was terrifying, and I hated it, but I pushed myself to do it anyway.
Fast forward a few years to my next position as a social media director – I needed to speak at an event. I stepped out on stage, opened my mouth… and nothing came out. My voice had completely gone. It was horrific.
After that, I decided I was DONE. I would not be getting back up on stage again.
Not long afterwards, I started this business. True to my word, I stayed in the shadows, and worked tirelessly for my clients (behind-the-scenes, where nobody could see me). But then 2016 rolled around.
2016 was a truly transformational year for me and my business. I finally had full-time childcare, which meant I could focus on my business full-time too. As I sat down to create my goals for the year, I realised I wanted to really see some growth – and that realisation came with the sinking feeling that I would have to start thinking about visibility. Yuck.
And visibility no longer meant just walking out onto a stage. It’s:
- Creating video content
- Jumping on the live streaming train
- Being vocal on social media
- Getting my opinion out there
- Doing more writing
All stuff I’d been avoiding because I was scared. But I finally decided to tackle my fears head-on, and the fact that you’re here reading this is proof that it worked.
This fear of being in the spotlight can stem from so many underlying issues. Perhaps it’s because you feel like a fraud, or you believe you’re not good enough, or you don’t think you measure up to the competition. These blocks are powerful, but they’re not stronger than YOU.
I used the Fix and Flood method to face my fears and overcome the hurdles I put in my own path. It looks a little like this:
Start by understanding the cause of your fears. This might mean digging deep into your past – even as far as your childhood. I invested in a kinesiologist to work on my energy blocks, and a hypnotherapist to help me understand what was going on, but you can start smaller.
The simplest thing you can do is to start journaling. Write down your fears and let the words flow. Once you’ve highlighted the cause, you can start working on it.
The Emotional Freedom Technique is a really effective way to clear negative energies and free yourself up – Brad Yates has some fantastic resources available.
The “fix” part of Fix and Flood is about understanding the underlying problem. This is not the type of thing that you can sort out over night, but you can make some astounding progress.
The second step is scary as hell. Flooding means doing a lot of the thing that terrifies you. The idea is that the more you do, the easier it becomes, and the easier it becomes to even thinking about doing those things. Start with the fixing, and then do the doing.
Set yourself specific goals – it could be to do a Facebook Live that week, or to make an effort to be more visible on your favourite platform – it doesn’t have to be something huge.
We have a #FridayLive challenge over in the Simply Smart Business community, so join us if you’re ready to start facing you fear of visibility.
Resources mentioned in this episode:
- EFT with Brad Yates
- #FridayLive in the Simply Smart Business community
Subscribe to The Simply Smart Business Show on iTunes here and on Podbean here.
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