Beginner's Anxiety as an Entrepreneur

The discussion in one of my coaching groups this week led to the subject of beginner’s anxiety.  When you started your coaching business did you have a background in the business world?  Many of us do not at the start.  You are likely to be a true beginner when it comes to being an entrepreneur.  So many of us forget how much anxiety is involved in being a beginner.  If you are middle aged, you may not have done anything that you weren’t skilled at for years. 

Whenever you learn any new skill that is significant, there is a big learner’s curve to move through.  At first, there is the excitement of the new skill and its possibilities.  Progress is fast because everything is new.  You don’t even realize how much you don’t know.  But soon the excitement wears thin and you start to realize how much there is to learn.  You feel ackward and uncomfortable in your new role.  It takes a great deal of business savvy to start any business from scratch.  Some coaches react  to the anxiety created by realizing how much they do not know by giving up.  Others set to work to learn what they need to know in order to be successful.  This attitude will allow you to move slowly along the learner’s curve to the point where you do know a thing or two. 

This usually happens before you realize it.  You are making good business decisions and seeing some results but the anxiety remains.  Finally, as your business continues to grow, you start to relax and realize that you have become an entrepreneur.  Allow yourself to go through this natural process.  There’s no real need to fight that anxiety, however don’t let it derail you from persisting and learning as you move along on the curve.