Don’t Panic, Just Start Your Business

Before starting a new business, it’s important to work on your confidence. If you have many ideas but don’t know how to start, it’s not because you lack business skills or courage. It’s often because of a lack of confidence.

My sister is an artist who can paint on almost any surface, from stone to t-shirts to sneakers. But she has never sold her art because she doesn’t feel ready to start her own craft business. We all have areas where we lack confidence and may avoid them as a result. For example, someone might not feel confident driving and therefore not apply for a driver’s license, or not feel confident in their ability to memorize things and choose a math-based major in college, or not feel confident in their dancing skills and decide not to go to the prom.

If you have similar thoughts or experiences, it’s important to take action and work on increasing your self-confidence. Don’t waste time complaining about your life or feeling like you could have been more successful or talented in a particular area. Remember that you won’t be able to make changes if you are still afraid of failure or lack belief in yourself.

I can relate to this personally. Nine years ago, I left my job, my home, and the familiar place where I lived and worked to start a new life in the US with my son. I didn’t know where to begin and used all my courage to say goodbye to my possessions. When it came time to finding a job and starting over, I had no confidence left. The first two years of my new life felt like I was sleepwalking through a foggy nightmare.

It was only my son’s joyful smile that motivated me to keep going on this new path. I started reading motivational books and knew that I needed to regain my trust in myself. One helpful book that I recommend is “The Self-Confidence Handbook: 15 Easy Ways to Boost Your Confidence, Self-Esteem, and Overall Happiness” by Dan Johnston. In this book, the author explores the principles that can help anyone become more confident, including mastering the four key influencers of self-confidence, using goal-setting to dramatically increase confidence levels, and embracing your flaws and using them as fuel for success.

You can also download Dan Johnston’s toolkit to practice improving your self-confidence. In it, he introduces ten techniques, including my favorite, “Learning to Be Outrageous and Not Care What Others Think.”

Be a little outrageous from time to time and share your true personality with the world. You’ll end up feeling more confident and attracting people who will like you for who you really are.

Dan Johnston: The Self-Confidence Handbook