Self-doubt is real for entrepreneurs

This week I am reminded of one of Aesop’s fables, “The Lion, Jupiter, and the Elephant.” Even against our greatest efforts, it is easy to fall into the temporary stoop of our doubting our abilities. Entrepreneurs often wear many hats. Today we can act as the accountant, tomorrow the sales team and the day after we are PR gurus and marketing specialists. We are continuously juggling a variety of roles so often that at times it can be exhausting. You’re working your damnedest to do everything right even though it feels as if you’re doing everything wrong. And then you look over, and for a second, you get a glimpse of another entrepreneur riding the wave of success so elegantly and seamlessly, it makes you tuck your surf board between your legs and scurry back home to see if the last slice of humble pie is still in the fridge.

This week I am on overload and coasting on little sleep. So much is going on full force at work and on the home front that on Tuesday I literally hurried to the bathroom to lose my lunch just as quickly as I had ate it. I share this not so pleasant detail with you to tell the truth about navigating your way through entrepreneurism. Telling the tales of fun and achievement would be meaningless if I didn’t share the insecurities that grip you as you work to make your vision a reality. That is why the tale of “The Lion, Jupiter, and the Elephant” resonated with me so much.

For those of you who don’t know the meaningful tale, here it is: “The Lion, for all his size and strength, and his sharp teeth and claws, is a coward in one thing: he can’t bear the sound of a cock crowing, and runs away whenever he hears it. He complained bitterly to Jupiter for making him like that; but Jupiter said it wasn’t his fault: he had done the best he could for him, and, considering this was his only failing, he ought to be well content. The Lion, however, wouldn’t be comforted, and was so ashamed of his timidity that he wished he might die. In this state of mind, he met the Elephant and had a talk with him. He noticed that the great beast cocked up his ears all the time, as if he were listening for something, and he asked him why he did so. Just then a gnat came humming by, and the Elephant said, “Do you see that wretched little buzzing insect? I’m terribly afraid of its getting into my ear: if it once gets in, I’m dead and done for.” The Lion’s spirits rose at once when he heard this: “For,” he said to himself, “if the Elephant, huge as he is, is afraid of a gnat, I needn’t be so much ashamed of being afraid of a cock, who is ten thousand times bigger than a gnat.”

The line of pessimism and optimism is an edge you walk as you build a business from the ground up. We all experience self-doubt at one point. The difference is understanding that it is just a fleeting moment. Believe in yourself.

Michael Jordan, commonly lauded as the greatest basketball player of all time, had this to say about fear, “Some people get frozen by the fear of failure. They get it from peers or from just thinking about the possibility of negative results. They might be afraid of looking bad or being embarrassed. I realized that if I was going to achieve anything in life I had to be aggressive. I had to get out there and go for it. I don't believe you can achieve anything by being passive.

Michael breaks down with emotion after winning his first trophy.

"I'm not thinking about anything except what I'm trying to accomplish. Any fear is an illusion," Jordan continued. "You think something is standing in your way but nothing is really there. What is there is an opportunity to do your best and gain some success. If it turns out my best isn't good enough, then at least I'll never be able to look back and say I was too afraid to try. Failure always made me try harder the next time.”

It’s far too easy to look at others and see their excellence and wonder just how they are getting along so nicely. The truth of the matter is no one will ever be as invested in your future as you. When you have so much on the line, it is natural for doubt to sneak its way into your system. What if I don’t sell as much as I estimated? What if this doesn’t pan out as I planned? He has a well-known business and I am just starting out. How can I possibly compete with that?

These questions are common to those deeply entrenched in fulfilling their dreams. What I have learned is that in life we all must face the impossible if we are determined to set the precedent on what can be.

So don’t let the doubt that creeps into your soul at times deter you from what is head. Life is a marathon, not a sprint. Look at your temporary moments of unease as a pit stop on the way to the finish line.