Here’s a question to ask yourself: If you absolutely, positively knew you would not fail, what would you do?

Would you do what you’re doing now? If so, you can quit reading. But check in next time – we’ll have something just for you, assuming you want to take it to the next level.

Now back to those of you who would do something different. What’s holding you back?

In most cases, it’s fear. Pure and simple. And rightly so. As our friend Jim Bouchard says, “The absence of fear is stupidity!”

How do you overcome it? Here are two suggestions:

Do your due diligence

Passion is great. However, if it’s not combined with evidence, you may find yourself passionately unhappy. Prove out your idea. Remember, where there’s growth, there’s opportunity. Whether you’re thinking of starting a business or changing careers, is the industry growing?

A great resource for this is the Occupational Outlook Handbook from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Services. It’s available online and it’s free.

Mitigate the risk

BIGG success is about entrepreneuring your life. Contrary to popular lore, entrepreneurs are NOT risk lovers. However, successful entrepreneurs are excellent risk managers.

They mitigate risk by managing it, sharing it and by seeing it differently.

• Risk management
  

Can you manage the risk by saving extra now and storing it away?

• Risk sharing
  

  If you’re thinking of launching a business, could you share the risk with a partner?
  

• Risk perception
  

  Is there something you know that most people don’t? Because of your unique knowledge and experiences, you may be able to look at a situation differently than most people.
  

As you keep finding ways to mitigate the risk, you’ll reach a point where what you’re contemplating doesn’t seem so risky. You realize you can’t fail. You’re ready for BIGG success!

If you’re contemplating a career change and still have questions, maybe we can help. Check out our coaching programs.

Image in this post from cobrasoft

A lot of people are parked. In most cases, they don’t realize how much risk they are taking by remaining stationary.

Parking for fear

For some, it’s a perpetual state. They don’t move because of fear – fear of failure, fear of embarrassment, fear of what others will say or think, and even fear of success.

They think they can avoid risk by remaining parked. In reality, they are taking the biggest risk of all. It’s sad because they are doomed to the life they now have if they don’t change.

Parking to celebrate

Others are parked because they just hit a BIGG goal. It’s healthy to take a little time to celebrate your successes. However, you’ll never reach BIGG success if you rest on your laurels. John Wooden said it best:

“Remember this your lifetime through;

Tomorrow there will be more to do.

And failure waits for all who stay

With some success made yesterday.

Tomorrow you must try once more,

And even harder than before.”

Parking to look at the map

In some cases, people are parked because they don’t know where to go next. This can lead to failure if you spend too much time off the road.

If you’re not sure how to reach the next level of success, maybe we can help you with the map. Check out our coaching packages.

Parking is at your own risk. Get on the expressway to BIGG success – even if you have to throw it in reverse first.

Image in this post from tiico

We navigated through it but it wasn’t easy. We were both really scared.

There’s no way to duplicate it in text. So listen to the show to hear all the fun (oh, and scary) sound effects and to find out where the most haunting place of all is … if you dare!

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Direct link to The Bigg Success Show audio file | podcast:
http://traffic.libsyn.com/biggsuccess/00642-102810.mp3

(Image in today's post by angood)

“Don’t live by old sayings that don’t apply to you. For instance – ‘Have a Plan B.’ Having a Plan B means you believe that Plan A might fail. Having a Plan B requires that you put time and energy into what you could’ve been doing for Plan A to make it work. And if Plan A doesn’t work, guess what, get a new Plan A.”

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There’s some real wisdom in his quote. We’ll look at it line by line:

Believe

He’s emphasizing how much we have to believe in success, not in failure. We have to believe, in ourselves and in our plan, in order to succeed. The first person who has to be on board with our plan – the first person who has to follow us so to speak – is ourselves. If we’re not in line, we’re in trouble!

Throw away the security blanket

There’s another thing that comes to light with this quote. Think Linus van Pelt, Charlie Brown’s best friend and Lucy’s younger brother. He never went anywhere without his security blanket. 

We can’t succeed if we hold on to our security blanket, or blankets, as the case may be. We have to throw it away once and for all if we’re going to succeed bigg.

A lot of times we hold on tightly to that security blanket just in case. Just in case, things don’t go as planned.

Well, here’s the brutal truth – no matter how good we get at planning, things never will go as planned.

That’s when we have to hunker done. We have to double our efforts to make our plan work. We have to overcome all the obstacles that we will face and keep the faith.

The covenant with Nature

We must keep on believing that we will succeed because we have no choice but to succeed. When we reach that level of resolve, the forces of Nature begin to conspire with us, instead of against us.

It’s not a miracle. It happens too frequently to think of it that way.

It is no accident. Because that implies a randomness that doesn’t exist.

It’s isn’t luck because it happens more often to people whose thoughts lead to certain behaviors. The more determination we have, the luckier we get!

It’s more like a covenant. Nature says, “This is how much you have to believe. Here is what you have to let go of in order to have my blessing.”

Now, let’s look at the next line …

Setting priorities

Since we only have a certain amount of time, we can’t afford to waste it if we’re going to succeed bigg.  It’s all about priorities.

We tend to think that:

• we’re super-human
• we can do ten things at once
• we don’t need to focus on just one or two major objectives at a time

The bare naked truth is … all of that is a lie!

We do have to determine what is most important right now in pursuit of that bigg success of which we dream. Then we have to focus all our energy on only that.

In the last part of his quote, he says,

So the question is, how do you know if Plan A isn’t working?

One way to judge it is if you keep running into the same wall over and over again.

You’ve tried to climb over it.

You’ve tried to go around it on one side.

Then you tried the other side.

You tried to dig under it.

You even tried to blast through it.

You’ve tried five times, but the doggone wall hasn’t budged.

Plan B is like Step 2

It may be time to start thinking of your alternatives. And here’s where we deviate slightly from Steve Harvey. Because we think Plan B is like Step 2 on your path to bigg success. You have to have a clear picture of what bigg success looks like to you before you start. Then you need to map out the steps to get there.

With your plan in place, you’ll focus all your time and energy on Step 1 before you begin to take the second step. So we’ve thought about it before we start, but we don’t worry about it until it’s time.

We think Plan B is just like that. Before we start working on Plan A, we should have thought about Plan B. We’ve prepared for the contingencies. But that’s where we stop.

And the important distinction is this ….

Plan B doesn’t send us back where we were before. Plan B moves us ahead in a way that Plan A didn’t. It makes that wall insignificant.

The only path to bigg success

But it doesn’t pay to spend too much time thinking about Plan B because the wall we face probably won’t be the wall we expect. So now we’re back on track with Steve Harvey.

Think about it a little, but don’t dwell on it. While you’re pursuing Plan A, keep Plan B out of your head. Because you have to if you want to succeed bigg.

Your mindset has to be, “This is my only path to bigg success.” By thinking that way, you will find bigg success. 

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Thank you for checking in with us today. Join us next time as we begin a two-part series on the ten early warnings of a business in trouble. Until then, here’s to your bigg success!

Subscribe to The Bigg Success Show in iTunes. 

Subscribe to the Bigg Success feed.

Direct link to The Bigg Success Show audio file:
http://media.libsyn.com/media/biggsuccess/00347-031009.mp3

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We wonder what could have caused it. Usually, it’s a very individual thing but there are some common reasons:

#1 – Self-doubt
You’re not sure that you can handle bigg success. You worry about what you don’t know. You dwell on what you don’t have (a common worry is not having the right degree). You tell yourself all the reasons why you don’t deserve this level of success, even though you’re so close to it.

#2 – Fear of loss
If you become more successful than your friends, what will they think? Will they still be your friends? Will they be jealous of your success? You know the answer to these questions already. What kind of friend wouldn’t be thrilled with your bigg success?

#3 – Fear of embarrassment
This fear is a carry-over from childhood – that adolescent fear of standing out from the group. You’re afraid of what people will think if they see you fail. Which leads us to …

#4 – Fear of failure
You may think that it’s better to have never experienced bigg success, than to have it and then lose it. Somehow it’s better to never get there. But why do you assume it will be fleeting?

The net result is that we talk ourselves out of succeeding bigg. We accept that it’s better to be part of the crowd than to blaze our own trail. We feel more comfortable. It seems less risky. But we’re wrong!

How to conquer your fear of bigg success

#1 – Self-talk is so important.

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As a first-time entrepreneur, fear has crept in on occasion. I’ve been lucky to have George around. He’s helped me understand that negative self-talk isn’t going to help you succeed. You have to turn it around.

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Even as an experienced business owner, I still have to battle that little voice that impedes bigg success. You just have to constantly keep telling yourself why you will do it.

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Think of all the things you’ve done right to get this far. Remind yourself of the obstacles that you faced and how you overcame them. Focus on the things that have already gone your way.

#2 – You don’t have to get it perfect; you just have to keep going.
It certainly hasn’t been perfect up to this point, has it? So why would it have to be perfect from here on out? Enjoy the journey. Enjoy the growth you’re experiencing.

Every time we reach another plateau, we celebrate our victory. Then we look back and realize the victory had already occurred. We grew. We learned so much. That’s the real joy of bigg success!

#3 – Success comes one level at a time.
Sure you have to keep your eye on that ultimate goal. But you get there one step at a time. You only have to take the next step.

You’ve learned enough to know how to do that. Perhaps more importantly, you’ve already learned how to find out anything you don’t already know.

#4 – Surround yourself with people who have made it.
We can’t possibly over-emphasize this point. Develop a support network of mentors and coaches. People who were once where you are now, but are now where you want to be.

Don’t be afraid to take those little steps that lead to bigg success!

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Evidence shows that more and more of us are running two businesses simultaneously. Next time, we’ll get some tips from an expert who’s doing just that. Until then, here’s to your bigg success!

Subscribe to The Bigg Success Show in iTunes. 

Subscribe to the Bigg Success feed.

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