Some think of it as a “right of passage”; others consider it “doing things my way,” and some simply hope for it in terms of “making the break.” Whatever terminology you ascribe to these lines of thinking—at some point, we flirt with the idea of stepping out on our own. The alluring draw of starting a successful freelance career or, dare I say it, an energetic, creative studio is just too intense for some of us to ignore. Yet, despite that strong desire to “do our own thing,” the truth is that most of us will never take the steps needed to make that dream a reality. Why?

Their Fear, Your Fear, Our Fear

One of the biggest reasons that creative individuals do not take the risk of stepping out on their own is fear. Fear is a beautiful anti-motivator, creatively and professionally. It sidles up next to you, whispering words like “can’t” and “won’t,” and slowly exerts an unholy grasp that stops us in our tracks and has us tuck our dreams of professional autonomy back in our hope chest. 

Fear comes from many places. Perhaps it’s fear of failure brought on by our underdeveloped feelings of self-worth. Maybe it’s fear passed on to us from others—a fellow colleague who failed in their own business and has nothing positive to say about the experience. It could be that it was a parent who never had the strength to risk going through periods of uncertainty and instability while they carved something bigger for themselves. Regardless of the source, fear is a hurdle…our first hurdle. Thankfully, it’s one that we can overpower once we get our heads right.

Don’t Think, Just Jump

Given enough time, we can talk ourselves out of anything. It’s in our self-defeatist nature, after all. The easy road is generally the one most people want to take. What’s easier than showing up to your 9-5 every day, doing your job, and collecting a guaranteed paycheck? If relative stability and making money are the ultimate goals, you’ve got that cinched up. And there’s nothing wrong with it. You have everything you need. Go forth and work.

If, however, the thought of punching the clock for 8 hours a day, month after month, year after year for a few decades sounds terrible, then maybe it’s time to start recognizing the situation for what it is—a wake-up call. It’s time to move on. But how?

Embolize the Fear and Embrace the Risk

Hearing the wake-up call is just a small yet crucial part of this journey to entrepreneurship. Once we hear it and take it seriously, we have to identify those feelings of fear and realize that they will not kill us. If we don’t address it, though, they can overwhelm us — sending us running back to the safety of what we know.

I’m now going to tell you THE BIG SECRET about fear that every entrepreneur knows. It’s a secret shared amongst every business owner, at every level—from your barber on the corner to the halls of Amazon and Jeff Bezos himself. To top it off, this secret is perhaps one of the most significant mitigating factors determining your continued success or eventual failure as a business person.

Some final words of warning. Once you know THE BIG SECRET, you can’t un-know it. All you can do is choose to live with it…or not. Intrigued? 

Okay, here it is:

The fear never goes away.

That’s it. Plain and simple. The fear never goes away.

Feel let down? Don’t. Knowing that secret is the key to everything. Remember when I mentioned earlier that fear was an anti-motivator? It is. It’s also ugly and uncomfortable by design. It’s our brain and our emotional programming holding us back. It’s your fight-or-flight response coming into focus.

Realizing that fear is never going to go away means that we can now make a choice, not based on that fear but BECAUSE of that fear. The fear exists, and it always will. So, what can we do to move forward?

Face it head-on. That’s right. Recognize the fear. Set it aside for a moment while you look it over. Then, begin to manage the fear and push through it. Whatever it takes to kick its ass. You need to get to a place where you can start making choices that reframe the fear congealing in the pit of your stomach. 

Start with simple decisions. Perhaps it’s just the decision to freelance a bit at first. Do you feel anxious? That’s okay. Set it aside for a bit. Identify all the things that could happen and the fears associated with that. Then, think about all the good things that could happen by making this change. What strengths will you find in yourself by moving forward?

Let the decisions build upon each other. Once you’ve got that under control, make a few more challenging choices. How about starting to look for a bit of work outside of your 9-5? If that goes well, perhaps you can reduce the working hours at your day job since your freelancing is taking off. Feel the butterflies? Nice. Ignore that fear. Then, tackle the next thing. Ready to quit your job? Yeah? Feeling nauseous? That’s alright; manhandle that fear. It’s not getting the best of you.

The Mental Switch

Not letting your fear control you in these situations transforms your mindset for entrepreneurship. Your fear early on was based on a mindset due to inherent rational and non-rational mental programming. By controlling or setting aside fear and making decisions despite our concerns, we develop the other essential component of being a business owner—risk tolerance. 

If you want to be a full-time freelancer or grow a full-fledged studio, you need to be comfortable with risk. Everything about carving your path is risky. Can you go broke? Yup. Could you have bad experiences with clients? Totally. Can you be successful, create your own way of doing things, and reap the benefits of working for yourself? Yes, yes, and thankfully, yes. But risk (and fear) will be a part of every step of that journey. You are fear’s faithful companion.

Flip That Switch

You might have started this article thinking that I would be discussing more practical things like getting a business license, finding your first client, managing your money, pricing your work, etc., but that’s not what this article is about. It’s about what comes before those decisions. It’s about striking the mental balance.

Anyone can go online and pull a business license, rent a desk at the hottest new collab space, and call themselves a freelancer or a studio. If, though, the switch regarding fear and risk has yet to be flipped, how do you handle those first six months when your salary is roughly 10% of what you made at your day job? How do you mentally combat your fear when work is tough to come by? Without mental balance, we can’t act, and there’s a good chance you’ll crash and burn and be back at the 9-5 in a few months… weeks…or days.

Owning a business is back-breaking work—especially in the creative fields. Anytime you go to an event, and those “successful”, “artsy” creatives speak about their perfect days filled with gourmet coffee, dog-friendly studio spaces built out of reclaimed wood, their extensive top-shelf clientele, and award-winning work, just know one thing: On the other side of that poise and provenance are a million and one concerns which keep them awake at night.

The sad truth is that you can’t escape the fears of being an entrepreneur when you are lying in bed in the dark at 3 am, freaked out. So, how do they do it? They got good at controlling their fears, wrapping success in well-executed decisions, and embracing risk to keep it all moving forward. That’s entrepreneurship.

Still aren’t sure? Just look at this search result list for articles relating to fear and entrepreneurship.

If all this sounds scary, it’s because it is! That’s why this article is essential. We often want to move full steam ahead, but we haven’t prepared ourselves for the reality of doing that thing. There are innumerable benefits to being a freelancer or a studio owner, but remember, success is built on the back of taking many fear-inducing risks. Sometimes, leaping before you think of all the reasons why you shouldn’t can be good.

So, are you ready to take the next step? Your finger is on the switch. Now flip it!

Author: Erin Lynch

Erin is a designer, writer, educator, and entrepreneur with over two decades of experience in the creative fields. He's a partner and the Creative Director at Shop, a design agency working at the intersections of design and commerce. Erin produces a weekly newsletter on Substack and regularly writes for his personal blog.