A couple weeks ago, I mentioned that I was working on something I'm excited about. The moment I made that announcement, part of me wanted to take it back. I knew that would happen! At the same time, a bigger part of me did not want to take it back, which is exactly why I said something then (and didn't delete it), and why I'm about to say this:
I have an idea for a little online business and I'm going to make it happen.
Gosh, it's not easy to say something like that! I am committing to this, and to myself, right here and now.
I'm very excited about my plans and yet totally unsure at the same time. I think I have a great idea, but what if no one else likes it? What if I can't make this work? What if I FAIL? Ah, yes, the fear of failure (a.k.a. the lizard brain; the resistance) rears its ugly head. And that is precisely why I NEED to do this -- besides the fact that a I really truly WANT to do this! I don't want fear to control me. I will never know success, or failure, if I don't try. No risk, no reward, right? (By the way, only my time and ego are at risk; the expenses are negligible!)
And if it really doesn't work out, I can live with that. Just by doing it, by giving it a genuine shot, I will learn a great deal* and that would not be a waste of time. Gretchen Rubin says, "enjoy the fun of failure," and I'm going to try taking her advice to heart.
At this point, are you wondering what my business idea is about? Well, okay! It's about scrapbooking! I'm not going to get into the details right now, but I will say that I think it's different than anything else that's available right now. It's a service, not a tangible product, and it's something that would solve a problem that I have in scrapbooking. And I don't think my problem is unique to me. I can't wait to share the details, but I have more work to do first!
*Already I've learned how to register domain names and have my blog remapped to kimbyrns.ca. Did anyone notice the change? It happened last Thursday. It doesn't really affect anything; although I've noticed that kimbyrns.ca goes to RSS much much faster than kimbyrns.typepad.com. No idea why that would be.
P.S. My friend Cheryl (whose birthday happens to be today!) may notice that I'm quoting Gretchen Rubin quite a bit these days. Gretchen is an inspiration (I love her book, The Happiness Project; everyone should read it!), but no more than Cheryl herself -- for numerous reasons, but in the context of this post, for the fact that she is a true entrepreneur with an amazing business (Check-It)! So when I think of hesitating to follow through on my own little business idea which is absolutely miniscule by comparison, I just have to think of Cheryl and I'm encouraged. Thanks Cheryl!