6 STEPS To Break Away From The Fear of Judgement
So here's the thing, you want to definitely put your business out there. You have already made the decision. You want to promote it, you want the whole world to know about it and you want to make a ton of money, but you're crippled by this feeling, this obstacle that seems so hard to overcome: the fear of being judged.
There are so many good ideas that don't ever leave someone's head because of fear of judgment, ideas that could actually change the world.
When we let the fear of judgment take a hold of us, we miss opportunities that the Universe is literally presenting to us at our doorstep, because we're afraid of what someone might say or what someone might think.
If you want to promote your business but are feeling a lack of confidence or you're really nervous about being judged, I hope that this blog post can help you overcome some of those fears, or at least know where it's coming from.
How Do We Fear Getting Judged?
For the most part, it means that we're worrying. We get really nervous or scared when we stop to consider what others will think about our business idea, if they’d approve of the products that we're launching, the ways that we're putting ourselves out there on social media through stories, doing funky dances to Instagram reels. We always worry about people thinking that we are being silly or “not professional”, seeing us as not good enough or even judging the way we look.
We're afraid of hate comments. If we're getting big enough to have a large following, realizing our numbers are no longer composed of just acquaintances, we get nervous thinking that people that we don't know will be saying something hurtful or mean about our business, or us.
And then we're afraid of the people that we love most, we crumble at the thought of them saying something negative; we’re even afraid of the thoughts that they might have around our business, business idea or something that we're doing online.
A lot of us already know that our family and friends don't often understand what it's like to be an entrepreneur, but yet we let the possible judgment we might get from them be the thing that consistently holds us back from showing up the way that we really want to in our business.
Impostor syndrome is another big thing that we struggle with, and being fearful of being judged can also present itself in thinking “Well, when I am perfect at this…” or “When I am the best at that... that's when I will share, that's when I will promote.”
In business, it is essential to do marketing, to put ourselves out there, to sell, to promote our services or products, and it can be really scary if we're afraid of being judged the entire time.
Fear of judgement is actually one of the biggest reasons why people don't promote their business online, it is crippling and it can freeze you.
For so many entrepreneurs that means that maybe even for years, you're kind of hiding. So you end up not sharing, not speaking out the way you want to and not standing up for your incredible business idea, just because you're afraid of what your high school classmates, probably people you don’t even talk to, will think about it when they see it online.
And as we keep on waiting, time goes on and our business continues to suffer or not grow as rapidly as it could. If only we could just rip the band aid off and let everyone truly see us
Why do we fear being judged?
You may have had experiences in your past, maybe when you were in school or maybe even from family or friends, where you have felt judged or thought that people were not taking you seriously. And this has probably led to you to now be more fearful of putting yourself out there and experiencing that same kind of hurt.
Many of us have that little voice in our heads that constantly tells us things along the lines of “This might be a bad idea,” or “Are you sure you want to do this?”. Everything boils down to deciding if we want to work through it or if we want to let that little voice rule our entire life.
At the end of the day, we are human and we want to belong and the fear of being judged, is also the fear of being rejected. So, if we are being judged or made fun of, we feel like we're outside of the group, outside of the circle, outside of what society really wants us to be like. And so we continue to shrink ourselves to hide who we truly are, simply so that people that we don't even truly like... like us.
Here are 6 steps that you can work through to get to the root of your fear of judgment.
Name it.
Let's first name it, let's understand where this fear of being judged is coming from. Has there been a past experience or something that we can name as the reason why we're feeling this way? What is something that triggers our fear of being judged?
Write it down.
Then, let's write down your actual fears. So, what would happen if someone were to make a joke about something that you put online? How would that make you feel? What would be the end result of that? If we actually work out the worst case scenarios on most of the things that we were worried about in life, we'll actually notice that there really isn't that big of an impact to our lives, but we tend to overthink a lot and it becomes larger than it truly is.
Connect with someone you trust.
This is not the time to go call up your mom or call up your spouse and use them as your personal therapist. Rather, call a business coach, a therapist, a business bestie that you connect with about entrepreneurship issues. Talk through these fears with that person.
Make a list of your accomplishments.
This is a time to talk about yourself: What are ways that you have actually helped people in your business? What are the ways that you have come through when things have been difficult? Show yourself the proof that you are good at what you do; write down the ways in which you feel confident, so that inner voice becomes dimmer and dimmer every time you hear it speak.
Answer this: What is the cost of being ruled by my fear of judgment?
Write your answer down. Is it costing you sales? Is it costing you happiness, your peace of mind? How is this fear taking away from you or not letting you experience life a certain way? Make a list of this.
Write down your why, again.
Think back to why you started this business, why are you putting yourself out there, what is the life you're trying to create. Remind yourself of this and have it visible. Does the fear of someone saying something hurtful justify you not going after your why? Would you rather give up on your why, than experience a bit of discomfort?
At the end of the day it's your choice if you want to let the fear of judgment affect the success of your business.
This is your permission to stop playing small, to put yourself out there, to know that there are many of us who are ready to cheer you along. And there are way more people ready to cheer than they are to judge, to laugh, or to bully you. And half the time, no one will do any one of those things anyway.
Remember, your ‘why’ gives you the strength to show up for more than yourself; it allows you to show up for your family, for your community, for the life that you are creating.
You have the power to change this.
You have the power to not let it rule you.
This month at Honest Hustle, we are talking about all things surrounding judgment. My hopes for sharing my thoughts on this topic are to help you break away from this very natural fear we all experience, not only as entrepreneurs, but as human beings, to help you prosper in your business and in life! If you like this type of content, join my email list! At the beginning of the month, we send out an Affirmation & Manifestation Calendar around a specific theme. So, go and sign up to get your own calendar!!
