Pushing Past Roadblocks

You made the bold move to start a business fueled by passion and conviction. But shortly into the journey, crisis moments arise threatening to deflate your courageous leap of faith.

Early stage entrepreneurship comes pre-portioned with obstacles from technical learning curves to revenue uncertainty. However, the most dangerous hurdles actually sit within our own mindsets. These inner challenges impact resilience to push past external barriers.

Understanding the typical mental obstacles entrepreneurs face allows you to foresee and address them with proactive self-coaching. The path forward will open up when you release limiting outlooks.

Here are 5 common inner obstacles and keys to conquer them:

Feeling Overwhelmed

Look, its gonna happen. There are so many things to do at any given time that even the most mundane among them can push us over the brink. Facing endless decisions and task lists, it's not uncommon for first-time founders to freeze up not knowing where to start. If not addressed with some planning these details can bottleneck momentum. The key is compartmentalizing priorities into manageable chunks. Break giant goals into step-by-step plans focused on the next tangible target. A good first step is to line out your infrastructure. Establish foundational systems like your legal structure, accounting, web hosting, etc... early on so additional projects have scaffolding to be built from.

Isolation

For some of us it is the reason that we decided to start our own company. Being tired of the daily grind of having to work with or for people who don't share that same visionary mindset. But, working in a vacuum often triggers feeling of loneliness and self-doubt. The solo grind is contradictory to our tribal instincts making it important for us as entrepreneurs to actively cultivate a environment of community and peer interaction. The great thing about this stuff is that YOU get to CHOOSE who is in your community. Fellow entrepreneurs are a great place to start as they inherently understand the rollercoaster experience and can provide emotional steadiness when you need it.

Imposter Syndrome

It is real!!! There are more than a handful of people that could have been real gamechangers who never took the leap because of this mindset. By virtue of the fact that you are an entrepreneur you have put yourself into a very exclusive club. Not everyone will be able to understand it but that's not our goal here. We are here to solve a problem or fill a market gap with high quality products and/or services. Remind yourself that your key capabilities will grow and improve over time through practice and problem-solving. Give yourself grace to grow into the leader role rather than demanding perfection upfront. Progress requires patience.

Shiny Object Syndrome

The tendency to constantly switch gears trying new tactics then abandoning them for the next big thing will severely limit actually completing any initiatives. Lock into a coherent strategy aligned to your core competitive advantages rather than reacting to every external shift. Consistency converts.

Fear of Failure

Many solopreneurs subconsciously self-sabotage to avoid the shame or uncertainty of falling short on goals. Its important to get comfortable with the understanding that failure is a feedback channel that will help you course-correct. Failing is not an identity. It's an event. You have to find ways to maintain self-worth apart from each outcome. It's ok to celebrate small daily progress goals that are intrinsic to the journey beyond arbitrary external benchmarks.

The path of entrepreneurship will inevitably present new obstacles but it is your mindset that faces the ultimate test. Take time to renew your perspective and utilize your immediate support system. Celebrate incremental progress and develop the fearlessness to turn barriers into rocket fuel for the vehicle that will get you to your vision. You were built for this! Now get out there and GET AT IT!!.