Don’t Be Affraid Of Mistakes

We all make mistakes. Some are bigger, some are smaller. Some have a huge effect on our lives (business or personal) some only slightly touch us and we’ll forget about them by tomorrow.

Any way you look at it, mistakes are unavoidable in the real world. The only way you can protect yourself against them is by doing nothing. The business world is not any different.

As much as I believe in doing a thorough research of one’s future business conditions before starting (after learning it on my own), I’m also aware of the fact that too much research could hurt. The more research you do, the more you’ll understand that having and running your own home business is not at all milk and honey; that it does involve work; that it does have risks; that you won’t have the level of comfort offered by a regular check; that you’ll absolutely have to learn to manage your money if you don’t want to make some disastrous financial decisions which could jeopardize the future of your business; and the list could go on and on.

The question that comes to mind is when should one stop the research and actually get started?

Since I’ve done the whole thing in the wrong order (gotten started, done a bunch of mistakes and then realized I should do some research) I’m probably not the best person to give any advice on the matter.

However, I’ll venture into saying that using your common sense should prove quite useful. Here’s what I’m talking about (the example might seem a bit far fetched, but if you really think about it, you’ll see it does make sense): every time I think of the dangers of driving, how, no matter how good of a driver you are, no matter how careful you are and how good your reflexes are, you never know when your safety will be endagered by another driver who runs a red light, one who doesn’t stop at a stop sign or one who doesn’t check the mirrors before switching lanes, I feel so frightened that I’m just a step away from never getting into a car again. It would be quite bad for me since my present job involves a lot of driving. Soon after such distructive thoughts I try to calm down and make myself understand they are risks involved by my job which I have to take if I want to keep it. They are also risks involved by our present life style which if I didn’t take would drastically reduce my mobility and capacity of moving around.

If I were to make a parallel between my example and a home business, no matter how scared you get about making certain mistakes, about the possibility of not succeeding, you need to calm down. You need to understand that any kind of entrepreneurial endeavours involves risks and mistakes. If you want to get somewhere, you’ll need to accept them. You’ll need to face your fears and just do it.

Getting back to the question I mentioned before, I think that the best moment to stop the research and actually get started would be the moment when the research becomes a distructive process. When you start getting scared of what’s ahead of you. When you start doubting you could actually do this.

When all of this happens it’s time you forget about research for a while and get your hands dirty. Take the first step. Start applying what you’ve learned so far. You’ll soon realize that things are not as bad as they may have seemed.

Keep in mind, though, that no matter how much you’ve learned so far it’s impossible to not make mistakes. What I do that makes me feel comfortable with mistakes is that I look at them as lessons for the future. And, to be honest with you, many times they are my best teachers.

Starting point for this post is “Green Day Give The Best Advice on Blogging” from AlleNation.

Posted in Learn from Others, Motivational, Piece of Advice, Work at Home |