The Importance of Overcoming Self-Doubt as an Online Solopreneur
Hello, my fellow creative soul!
Are you passionate about creating your own online business? And have you nonetheless (sadly!) always thought of yourself as not being good enough to make it as an online solopreneur? I’ve been there. Probably a lot of people have.
But you know what? Self-doubt is a terrible thing. It will stop you dead in your tracks before you even start. If you really want to become a successful online solopreneur, you have to let go of your permanent self-doubt. It’s totally ok to be scared. Acknowledge your fear and move past it. The magic happens when you do something despite being scared. That’s when you grow.
“Doubt Kills” – It’s important to remind yourself that you CAN do it!
Self-Doubt Kills Your dreams
I know, for rather shy and introvert people like myself, it’s incredibly hard to put oneself out there. The fear of people not liking the work that means so much to you. Comparing yourself to your personal art/design/blogger/coach heroes and feeling overwhelmed and discouraged by their level of professionalism and success. And of course, there is the pressure of making money! For most of us, that is a very important point. So, intimidated as we are, we succumb to our self-doubt and hide behind a “proper” 9-5 job, instead of following our dreams. At least that’s how I felt until about a year ago.
“There is freedom waiting for you,
On the breezes of the sky,
And you ask “What if I fall?”
Oh but my darling,
What if you fly?”― Erin Hanson
I’m going to share my own personal story with you, hoping I can take some of your fears away and encourage you to find your own way.
Overcoming Self-Doubt
I had spent the last 2 years at home looking after our two little people and it was about time to start thinking about contributing to our family income again. Easier said than done since we had moved to a small village in the middle of nowhere, where nobody ever needed a highly trained molecular biologist. Working full-time in a bigger city and spending hours to commute there, wasn’t a viable option either.
I needed a flexible arrangement, that would allow me to work part-time and on my own terms. To allow me to take some time off when the children got sick or just needed more attention. Anywho, after lots of soul searching and deliberation I decided, I had to take a leap of faith and change direction completely.
I remembered the time after school when I had to decide what to study. It was a very difficult choice between biology and design. Back then, I went with biology because I thought it was less vain and I could contribute more by furthering the existing knowledge. Very noble, I know. 😉 Nevertheless, I had always loved art and design and it was hard giving that up in favour of something so much more intellectual. Self-doubt absolutely played a big role in the decision as well – having to be creative EVERY DAY was a frightening prospect. What if I couldn’t deliver on that?
“The difference between an adventure and an ordeal is attitude.”
― Bob Bitchin
Give it a Chance!
Now that I found myself at a crossroads in my life, I decided to give the creative part of me another chance. I had discovered Society6, an online Print-On-Demand site, that lets you create your own account (only costs 1$ to set up), upload your own pictures, apply them to various products and make these available for sale in your own little Society6 store.
That was the turning point for me. I created my Society6 account and challenged myself to create something new every day for months, just to see if I could be creative enough and if I would still enjoy it when I worked on it every day. As it turned out, I did. I created accounts with other Print-On-Demand sites like Redbubble and Contrado as well and started to use social media to share my work. It’s really awesome seeing my designs on cool products from wall art, to furniture, fashion or other lifestyle products. That’s how it all started.
Designing unique products in a world full of mainstream big brand items makes sure you have something special that stands out.
And then I learned how to set up my own website, how to write blog posts, how to brand myself, etc – and changed direction again. Not as radically as before this time. While it’s great to see my designs come to life – it’s even better to encourage and teach you how to do the same. I still enjoy creating new pieces but helping you overcome your self-doubt and start something that is close to your heart, that has become so much more important to me.
Steep Learning Curve
Confession time: I don’t make a lot of money selling my designs. Why tell you this, you might think? How is my story encouraging, when it doesn’t end in me making a s***load of money and being hugely successful?
First of all, I value honesty. The second reason why I tell you this is that despite not making a lot of money, I really enjoy what I’m doing and it gave me the incentive I needed to work on all the necessary skills to grow another business. When you know your work will be seen by more people, you start to take your own work more seriously.
I believe that you have to leave the security of your own cosy comfort zone in order to truly grow. On this journey, I’m learning so much about things I didn’t even know existed. Moreover, I’m learning much about myself as well. I found people are generally very supportive out there. Even if some of them aren’t, it’s less harsh/competitive/scary than I expected.
Why It’s Still Worth It
I guess what I’m trying to say is, that putting yourself and your work out there a risk worth taking.
- You’ll learn heaps you wouldn’t learn if you kept to yourself.
- You’ll get to know wonderful people.
- You can start a network and enjoy your creativity.
- You open your life up to new possibilities.
Who knows, you might become someone else’s hero one day. You might earn enough to make a decent income and change your life. Worst case scenario: You spend a lot of unpaid time doing something you love and develop new skills in the process. Could be worse. 😉 I challenge you to overcome your self-doubt and start something that has been on your mind for a long time but that you haven’t dared to do yet.
Worst case scenario: It doesn’t pan out. So what? You gave it a shot. At least you’re not haunted by those nagging thoughts of what could have been if only you’d tried it.
Start Today!
You’ve always dreamed of becoming an online solopreneur? Great! Start with the first steps today and I’ll be here to help. Don’t forget though, that success won’t come overnight. It will quite possibly take considerable time before you start seeing some regular cash flow. Nevertheless, everyone has to start somewhere and the sooner you start to get yourself out there, the sooner you will start to see results.
“A year from now, you’ll wish you started today.”
― Karen Lamb
Become A Member Of The Tribe!
If you find yourself looking for excuses why you can’t possibly start living your dreams – stop sabotaging yourself! The world is ready. So are you. Now repeat after me:
I am enough.
I am ready.
I will make this work.
Go, girl! I really hope you’ll overcome your fears and self-doubts and give the world a chance to see your beautiful self and your work. If becoming an online solopreneur happens to be what you’d like to try – let me help you take the very first steps. I created a FREE visual guide, the “Roadmap to a Successful Online Business” to break it all down for you and figure out which important steps to take when. In this together! 🙂 *high five*
Go on then, create something amazing today and start sharing your talent! If you found this post helpful, I’d love if you could pin and share it with your friends.
Happy experimenting!
Yours,
Pin me – I know you want to! 😉
Related reading:
GROWTH MINDSET SECRETS OF SUCCESSFUL SOLOPRENEURS
