Dr. John Demartini – Seven Common Fears That Can Hinder Business Growth
Are you feeling that you are plateaued in your business development or company growth? Are you wondering why you are not breaking through and going to the next level?
There are at least seven common fears that can at least partly underlie business plateaus. But, before I share them, I would first love to share a story involving a very common one.
Recently I had a 40-year-old business entrepreneur approach me and ask if I could consult with him about his business growth concerns. I stated, “certainly.” We scheduled a time, and I began the session by asking him to prioritize what he felt he wanted to work on first and foremost. He stated that no matter what strategy he has tried over the past three years, he just can’t seem to break through the business growth ceiling he is at and he feels stagnant and stuck.
I then asked him a simple straight forward question: “If all of a sudden you were to break through this current ceiling in your business and take your business to the next level, what would you be afraid could happen?” He stared at me for a moment and suddenly stated: “I am afraid my wife would divorce me, because of all the extra time and effort it would take.” Then he explained that three of his friends and business colleagues previously took off in their businesses and became a bit cocky, preoccupied in their businesses, and soon did not meet some of their wife’s needs. They all ended up in a divorce, which cost them a substantial portion of their existing fortunes and nearly completely crumbled their businesses, at least for a while. He said, “I guess the idea of that possibly happening scares the daylight out of me and maybe it is adding at least one of the brake pedals on my business growth.”
I was sure there were other fears and reasons, including certain management and delegation issues to be addressed, but I tackled his first concern on the spot. I stated, “Every decision you make and action you take will be based upon what you believe will give you the greatest advantage with the information you have according to your current hierarchy of values. Unless you find ways in which doing the proven actions to grow your business can enhance or build your marriage more than destroy it, you will probably plateau to protect you from this anxiety and its potential outcome.”
I explained to him that if his wife did not feel she would be winning if he were to grow his business, she will probably respond in a way to try to get what she wants. So I asked him how growing his business to the level he desired could help his wife achieve what is highest on her set of values and what he perceives her life is being inspired by and dedicated to.
At first, he could not see any immediate advantages to her or the family. But Demartini prompted some possible benefits to her of him achieving his dream. As we continued, he made new beneficial associations in his mind of how getting what he wanted could help her get what she wanted. The more links we found to help her fulfill her family dreams and social contributions, the less anxiety he was feeling about achieving his goal.
He also saw how delegating some of the lower priority actions he was still doing at could liberate him and allow more quality time for his wife and family. Plus, he saw how it could liberate her from doing more mundane actions at home and allow her the freedom to pursue some of her more meaningful objectives.
His energy immediately started rising and new creative strategies and action steps started emerging and flowing. Once he saw how growing his business would not be in the way of a lasting marriage, he was inspired and ready to take action. He could not wait to go home and share the new advantages he could provide his wife and family by stepping up his business growth.
Over the next six months, his business took off and broke through the previous ceiling, but he kept his focus on how it could benefit his family. This is the definition of caring.
In addition to the fear of losing the respect of loved ones, there are six other common fears that can hinder an entrepreneur’s business growth and prevent them from getting to the next level. These are the fear of:
- Not knowing enough to strategically plan and execute business strategies to meet objectives.
- Defeat or failure by not achieving the business objectives they envision.
- Not making enough income or losing money by pursuing business objectives.
- Being rejected by social authorities they look up to for pursuing business objectives.
- Not having enough vitality, stamina, or wellness to achieve their business objectives.
- Breaking the morals or ethics of a spiritual authority they are subordinating to by pursuing their business objectives.
Each of these fears can hinder the achievement of your chief business aim. By confronting each of the existing fears that can cause you to plateau by answering specialized questions like those in the story above, you can become conscious of what you are unconscious of and see beyond the associated disadvantages holding your back and bring them into balance.
The seven common fears are simply assumptions that you are about to experience more drawbacks than benefits. So look for the advantages to these imagined fears and balance them out by holding yourself accountable and liberate yourself from the ceiling your imbalanced mind has temporarily imagined.
Dr. John Demartini is the founder of the Demartini Institute, a human behavioral specialist, educator and international best-selling author. Drdemartini.com
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