In this week’s episode of The Meaningful Business Podcast, Holly Worton and I discuss one of the biggest fears we’ve experienced, something that we also see in clients on a regular basis: What will they think of me? Will they like me?

This is something that I’ve personally struggled a lot with, and it’s something that really held me back in the past. It speaks right to the heart of Feminine Conditioning – we know that as women we’re judged and there are SO MANY ways we can be found wanting (in fact, it is literally impossible to be 100% acceptable as a woman – actually as a human, and yet we keep on trying because that’s what we’re conditioned to do.)

It’s something I talked about with Airial Clark in regards to her work teaching women how to give less f*cks – the thing is, we give SO MANY f*cks about so many things – including what people will think of us.

It’s something that comes up a lot less for me these days – I think it’s partly because of the amount of work I’ve done in this area over the years and partly a by-product of getting older (I’m too tired these days to care nearly as much about what people think of me!) but that’s not to say it doesn’t happen. Like most things, our fears morph and regroup and have a habit of returning when the next big new thing you’re doing happen.

I can be moving forwards, planning my next big thing, feeling all confident until it’s time to put it out into the wider world. Then the thought will occur to me, along with the sickly, itchy feeling: What will they think of me? Will they think I’m an idiot/too scatty/unqualified/overbearing/pushy/crass? or whatever my brain is throwing up that day.

Even with all of the work I’ve done in this area, that fear of ‘what will they think of me?’ can catch me off guard.

So in this episode, Holly and I share some of our experiences around how you can work with the fear of what people will think of you in your business – and when you should (and shouldn’t) care.

What You’ll Learn

* What our own journey has been like in dealing with these fears and how this shows up for us

* Why this happens and why we have these fears

* How this shows up in business and how it holds us back

* Why this is a problem and why we need to work on it

* How perfectionism comes into play and why we need to get used to taking imperfect action

* How this is related to resilience and how we can strengthen our resilience muscle

* Why we need to step outside our comfort zone in all areas of our life, not just business

* What you can do to change this and release these fears so you can take action more easily

* Practical baby steps you can take to get used to speaking out and taking action