Getting out of your comfort zone to do something big in the world takes courage and acting ability, not just know how. Every entrepreneur has those days, weeks or months where confidence drops and fear and insecurity take their place. The challenge is put on a brave face and keep going anyway.
I’m a huge fan of President-elect Obama and totally inspired by his message. Even he must have moments where he thinks, “What have I got myself into? Can I really solve all these problems and do this job?”
Political pundits keep talking about whether he looks and sounds “presidential”.
That’s because he’s not the president and he’s never been the president. But that will be his job soon enough and he won’t get to click on some giant “pause button” to stop the world while he sits around the Oval Office learning his new role. To keep the rest of us from freaking out, he has to look and sound presidential and keep going even in those moments when he’s not feeling it deep down. If he looks confident and sounds like he knows what he’s talking about, he inspires our confidence in him and his abilities— even though he’s never done this job before.
I constantly get requests from new stagers to shadow me on staging jobs because they’re afraid to go out there on their own and face a real live client.
Please don’t ask to shadow me. I don’t have the time to screen and pre-approve the hundreds of people who ask me to do this for them. Nor would I want to have to coordinate who is coming to which client and when. It’s just not a realistic objective no matter how easy and appealing it may sound to the person who wants me to bring them to my next project. My home staging clients hire me to decorate their homes to sell not to use them as a training center.
My best advice to new home stagers is to put on a brave face and go for it.
Don’t be afraid to be on your own for a client project. Congratulate yourself on the fact that you were able to convey a professional enough image to actually get a client! This person saw something in you that you may not be feeling right now, but you have to keep going anyway.
If you don’t feel like a professional stager today, act the part!
The more you do it the more you’ll feel like a home stager. And, unlike Barack, you don’t have to do your job with the whole world watching your every move and every word! Your clients aren’t looking for signs of incompetence, they’re looking for solutions to their problems. Give them what they hired you for and keep your focus on the task, not how nervous you are.
Please add your comments about how you keep going when fear and doubt set in.
Debra Gould, The Staging Diva®
President, Six Elements Inc. Home Staging
Home Staging expert Debra Gould also known as The Staging Diva knows how to make money as a home stager and has taught over 1000 others to use their decorating talents and run their own home staging business in the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program.
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I wholeheartedly agree with Debra’s recommendation to “act the part” – when I was inventing my home staging business, Arlington Home Staging, I had a hard time believing I could become a successful stager because I hadn’t done it yet. A part of my solution was hiring an amazing life coach to help me work through my “blocks” to fully realize my potential and start to live my dream. I found that the more people I told about my business, using self-affirming language like “I am a home staging professional, I run my own business helping people….,” the more I became a home stager. Put yourself out there, break out of your safe-zone and believe in yourself and you will succeed!
I recall when I started my staging career almost three years ago and created my company in Nashville , Tn. An Eye 4 Change , I thought how can I call my self a professional stager when I have never had a client. Despite this I was off to my first consultation with business cards , brochure, portfollio in hand
( actually photos of my own home ) . I not only got the job, but convinced an agent who did’nt believe staging worked. The house sold within days , first showing !!!! That gave me the confidence I needed. When I doubt myself I always think back to that day. Through Debra’s training program I gained the skills and confidence I have today. Thanks Debra !!!
What a great to look at those first job jitters!
It’s so true that if you love doing this type of work, and want to build a business doing it, you just need to put yourself out there and go for it. Staying focused on the project really helped me when I got started. I was so excited that a realtor was willing to hire me! Then it was just a matter of moving forward with confidence, even if I didn’t always feel as confident as I tried to look. I love the Obama analogy. It’s true for all of us when we start something new. There is no way of anticipating what each home will need. That’s where creativity comes in! And clients really appreaciate creative solutions to their problems.
When I started my business Stunning Spaces, in York, Maine over 3 years ago, there was no way to know where it would take me. But one step at a time it has taken me to some very interesting places, with some wonderful success stories in my pocket. I look forward to growing in new ways with each new day.
Thank you all for sharing your comments on this. I think it really helps others who are too afraid to take that first step, to realize we all started from that place. I also want to congratulate all of you on your professional looking websites. That’s all part of the right image you need to put out there to give others the confidence to hire you.
Keep those comments coming. I know it will inspire others to get out there and go for it!