Branding is scary.
If you are going through, or have gone through the branding process, you know what I am talking about. It’s not clowns or chainsaws scary, it’s deep-inside-truths wrestling-with-your-ego-and-self-worth scary, which can be a lot worse.
Picking out colours and fonts is fun. Seeing all the pieces come together, and spending time with a branding professional can give you incredible insight into your business and your vision for the future, but often times, it is also really terrifying.
Why is Branding so scary?
In the process of figuring out what your business is, you will come to the realisation that this is IT. You are starting a business. You are putting yourself out there. You are spending time and money and countless hours finalising the details.
It is really happening.
Maybe you have been doing business for a while, but this is the last step to formalise the process and go public. It’s about more than just your logo or design, it’s about you, putting your face and product or services out into the world and saying, “Look at me! I am competent and want your business.”
If you haven’t gone through this process yet, you might be thinking, “Well duh, isn’t that the point?”
You’d be absolutely right.
But if you have gone through the branding process before you know how this simple step can turn into a psychological and emotional minefield.
One minute you are talking to your brand strategist about colours and feel, the next you are avoiding their emails, stalling their progress, and asking everyone and their dog what they think. You’ve reached a whole NEW level of procrastination.
Branding Imposter Syndrome
All of a sudden, answering an email seems overwhelming, and you avoid making any decisions because, well, you’re not sure why. You stop doing what you have been doing and start doubting yourself.
Do I really want to do this?
Can I do this?
Maybe I should just go back to my old job…
I don’t know if I am ready for this.
What if people don’t get it?
What if I fail?
What if I am not as good at this as I thought I was?
What if my friends and family think this it’s stupid?
What if I do it wrong?
Have I been kidding myself this whole time?
The Good News
You’re not alone, and this is an easy fix.
All of those doubts and fears and all of that procrastination is coming from a limiting belief or story that you have been telling yourself for way too long, and it is time to chuck it out. Enough is enough.
The silver lining is that you have the opportunity to figure out exactly what it is that has been holding you back and kick it to the curb once and for all. You can change the story of doubt into one of empowerment. You can evaluate those sinking feelings and creeping thoughts of doubt and turn them into power.
CLICK TO TWEET “You can evaluate those sinking feelings and creeping thoughts of doubt and turn them into power.”
How to Re-Write Your Story
Let’s say you are terrified of doing a Facebook Live video for your business. Even though every marketer and their mum says that it is essential to visibility for your business, you’re feeling a clear and resounding NO from your guts.
Why? Because you just don’t want to.
No, but really, why?
Well, maybe you don’t like what you look like, or hate the sound of your own voice. So, the story you have been telling yourself is, “I’m not pretty or attractive enough to advertise my business on live video, people will see my hideousness and not take me seriously. Also, I hate the sound of my voice and other people are going to hate it too.”
That’s a pretty messed up story. But that’s okay because it’s just a story.
The first step is recognising the facts. Does your business have anything to do with how attractive you are? Unless you are a model, I’m guessing the answer is no.
Oh, you hate your voice? Welcome to the club. The fact is, most people hate their own voice when they hear it. That’s just our weird human brains reconciling hearing ourselves outside of our own head. It’s uncomfortable because it confuses our primal lizard brain that hasn’t adapted to technology that has been around for all of four seconds in the long history of human existence. It’s totally normal.
So, let’s rewrite the story:
“My clients don’t care what I look like, and I am not so hideous that people will gasp and run for the hills. My business doesn’t depend on my good looks. People care more about what I am saying than what I sound like.”
The Even Better News
If you haven’t gone through the branding process yet, you are ten steps ahead of the game, and you can nip this in the bud before it puts the breaks on your business and throws you into a pit of paralysing self-doubt.
You just have to make sure you address it right away, so it doesn’t stall you and have you spinning your wheels for months. Left unaddressed, you will find every excuse to fail.
Know that what you do IS valuable, and who you are IS important. You don’t have to be smarter, better looking, or better organised than everyone else to be successful, you just have to know what your gifts are and know their value.
Amanda Maynard
As a sought-after business start-up coach, speaker, and networking guru, Amanda’s irresistible laughter and openness has clients singing her praises as the Get “Unstuck” Coach. Amanda is renowned in her ability to get to the heart of the entrepreneur’s struggle while nurturing the creative and emotional sparks that come with starting and growing your business. Amanda has been featured in her own radio program, ASK Amanda on VOCM, as well as on CBC Radio Noon and the CBC Morning Show. She invites you to join her latest success, the TeaVolution Network Facebook Group, a vibrant community of heart-led entrepreneurs who ‘get it’ and are interested in building relationship and creating real connections over Virtual Teas.