Hello Roses,

Fear is a funny thing. I often find myself terrified at the idea of doing something, yet I know I have to do it anyway. I’d most probably get it wrong, but at least I did it. Somethings I can live with the heart pumping, soul shaking fear, others plain and simply fill me with dread.

Recently, I’ve been feeling fear around my business more often. Fear that I’m not doing enough, fear that no one will buy the product, fear that meetings will go terribly, fear that I’m not going to succeed and fear that I’m not the best person for the job. These are not things to fear, because they mostly haven’t happened. They are irrational thoughts that come with spending too much time alone and putting the weight of the world on your shoulders. I know I’ve spoken about imposter syndrome before, but I would like to highlight it again. If Sheryl Sandberg suffers with imposter syndrome, then I think we can safely say it’s okay.

The thoughts of I’m not good enough, or thinking others would have negative thoughts and comments about Lucy Rose is a woman’s way of saying I’m not confident enough right now to put myself out there. The thing is, deep down if I was so unconfident, I wouldn’t be doing it. If I didn’t have the passion and perseverance to keep going when times get tough, I would have stopped ages ago. This leads me to believe that there is a deeper level whereby we know what we are capable of, and if external comments or factors weren’t there, we would steam right ahead. The fact that there is this extra layer of society that faces us in everything we do, the fact that we can compare ourselves with others with a touch of an app makes us feel less than we are.

I’d be interested to hear what you all think about this, because I genuinely believe it is something we all suffer with, but most are too proud to admit. I was reading Deliciously Ella’s blog about how she often feels like she just wants to run home and hide when she is at public events and hearing this from someone as successful as Ella makes me feel so much better. If more people would show their vulnerability in this day and age of sharing, I think more people would feel adequate in their own abilities. All our sharing platforms only seem to highlight the best, the result of all the years of hard work, which of course is great, but if we could see the blood sweat and tears too, it might inspire the future generations to not give up when results aren’t immediate. After all, the harder you work for something, the sweeter it tastes.

Those are my thoughts on fear at the moment. I think it’s definitely something that our attitude can manipulate with certain experiences throughout life, and can be subject to change. I believe the fear of never trying is far worse than not getting the desired result. As I said before, if I truly didn’t believe in it, I wouldn’t be doing it so I’m going to stop comparing my chapter one to someone else’s chapter ten and continue to put one foot in front of the other on this challenging journey and one day that’ll lead me to conquer the mountain of fear. I hope you too can continue on your journey despite the fear that may have stopped you in your tracks. You are more than entitled to feel that way, but please don’t let it hinder your growth.

Until next time,

Em x