“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.”
These words of Marianne Williamson in her book A Return to Love (1992) might sound absurd. How can you be afraid of being powerful beyond measure?
As over 50 entrepreneurs, our lives are often entwined with limiting beliefs. Many of the beliefs we hold about ourselves, our worthiness for success, and great wealth come from childhood experiences. Some attitudes are even generational. What do you think?
The higher you climb, the bigger the fall.
There are many self-help books proclaiming quick fixes, but the reality is that overcoming our limiting beliefs and fears is not a fall-out-of-the-tree-easy exercise! We will always have fear in our lives. No matter how successful you are, fear is omnipresent. In fact, I am of the opinion that fears only increase with your success. The higher you climb a mountain, the bigger the risk of falling really far!
Nelson Mandela is famous for saying: “I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.”
Over 50 Entrepreneurs and the Fear of Our Greatness
FFor many, this fear is the biggest, though often the least discussed. What if I were really GREAT at my business, job, or personal life? What would people say if I outshone them, or my income skyrocketed? As over 50 entrepreneurs, this thought can be uncomfortable, holding us back more than anything.
What would other people say? What would my “friends” say if I suddenly outshone them or my income took off? I bought my dream home or my dream car etc.
For most people, this is one of the most uncomfortable thoughts they can consider, and as a result, holds more people back than almost anything.
As Marianne Williamson said in her book, a Return to Love (1992):
“You’re playing small doesn’t serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you” and:
“As we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we’re liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others”
Fabulous Over 50 Entrepreneurs Failures
It is said that one advantage you have as an over 50 entrepreneur is all the experiences you’ve gone through. A twenty-something or even a thirty-something entrepreneur doesn’t have the luxury of fabulous failures to learn from and build upon.
Fabulous? How can a failure be fabulous? Speaking from experience with many “oh no, I’ve messed up” moments, I know how easy it is to give up. Walk away from your fears and failures. But it’s precisely these experiences that shape us as over 50 entrepreneurs.
From master of failure to who knows what is in store for us
If there is something I am really good at, it is failure. A master of failure. But then again, I tend to dream really big. One of my clients and now also my author coach, Anemari Jansen, gave me a fridge magnet many many years ago that reads: “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars…” This one is stuck to my office door frame. Right at this moment I am preparing for my first Pecha Kucha speech evening, as well as my first Otter Run. Will it be a miserable failure or will I get lucky? The one Gary Player quote that I have used so many times in the past is very applicable here: “The harder I work, the luckier I get.” And how true is this?
The Sani-Stagger Feeling
I finished the grueling NumNum Trail Race over the past weekend. There have been some hectic moments where I felt really nauseous. Super tired with a seriously sore right knee. The one thing that helped me to keep going was the thought of bailing out of the Sani-Stagger Race two years ago. How the Sanie-Stagger works is that you run 21km up Sani Pass towards the Lesotho border and at the border, you turn around and run 21km back. At the halfway mark I choose the option to jump into my first ever taxi for the ride down. Fun at the time, but the feeling afterward still makes me sick to this day. And it was that feeling that kept me going at NumNum. May I never ever forget that Sani-Stagger Feeling!
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.”
What is your deepest fear that you can overcome today?
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