Fear of suffering is worst than suffering it's self

Last night I couldn't sleep. I had such a heavy heart and I was kept up with my thoughts about how the future would play out. I looked at my RSVP list and saw that no one had responded except one person to say no and another to say maybe. I was worried that I would have too many people that would show up, but now I fear that I won't have any one at my pre-launch party. And that is what I'm scared about. It's the rejection and as much as I try not to take it personally I do.

I sometimes think that it is fear that holds you hostage and prevents you from jumping fully after what you want in life. I hear the doubts and thoughts of the skeptics on running a business like direct sales, and their views on the subject is that it can only lead to failure. Yet a part of me continues to ask, but what if it doesn't. What if I look back 3 years from now, smiling because I had made this work. I guess you can say that's what part of me wants to believe. Like that there is a powerful, confident sales woman who can and will change the world, if only I just give her the chance to prove herself.

But sometimes crossing that bridge toward your dreams is a scary one. What if you fall off? Although failure is not a bad thing, it's definitely a scary thing. Failure teaches you more lessons about life than any success could. So without failure you might be missing the part of adversity which leads to growth, which leads to a stronger you. At the same time fear of failure before you begin your journey can be daunting. Any business person and young entrepreneur starts to realize that a business can not be run like a lemon aid stand. People are not going to buy your products just because you're there and it's a hot day and you've worked really hard working those lemons and making the finest lemon aid there is. No, when you're an adult, people want to buy what they want to buy because the product is something they want and many people don't like quality pricey lemon aid, even if it's the best in the neighborhood. The way someone advertises it can do only so much.

To fear or not to fear. Whether it's nobler to suffer from failure or to not have tried is the question. To me though, what if I fail. What am I going to lose? What am I going to gain? Well so far, I've put into this $130 to sign myself up as a consultant. I haven't put anything really into my photography since the equipment I have has been what I've accumulated over the past 10 years of professional photography and high end photo equipment. Not all photographers who take photography as a hobby/career choice can say they own their own mid-range lighting equipment but that's besides the point.

How do I conquer fear that is greater than me? When I really look at the situation, it boils down to can I build a tough enough skin. Business requires a remarkable amount of courage, patience, and of course camel back skin. You need to be tough to have a 1000 doors slamming into your face. You need to have strong ears that can block out the ones closest to you, who are telling you that this is not going to work. To have to learn how to fight those inner demons.

While browsing msn today, I read an article about career advice. They mentioned this book "The Five Secrets You Must Discover Before You Die" by John Izzo. So I picked it up at the library. I decided to go with the book on tape because I already have a ton of other books from the library that I need to address to. Although the "secrets" were written out in the article, I decided to investigate the knowledge for myself. The book has a lot of useful information.

The other book I picked up was Wisdom for a Young CEO. I was recommended the book and it's supposedly letters from successful CEO's about advice to young entrepreneurs. I'll tell you more once I start reading it.

Well I'm beat. I'm going to get more stuff done for Arbonne tonight since I have to meet up with my Arbonne upline tomorrow morning.

Talk to you soon,