As someone who is risk-averse and is taking the plunge into entrepreneurship this thread is worth more than any outside investment, research, planning, etc I do. I've spent over thousands of hours in the past year getting my idea ready for release. Every time I have that doubt...i enjoy it. I know that the fear is irrational. I'm more well educated, better prepared and work harder than almost everyone I've met that owns their own business. Yet, I still fear something as simple as spending $5000 to create an online ecommerceish type startup. This thread makes me realize how little I'm risking, how to get out of my head, how stupid the fear of failure is, and how to channel my passion.
Not quotes but from a time magazine article on how Howard Schultz made Starbucks from a small local coffee shop to 20,000+ in 62 countries:
The Starbucks model of success has three main parts; be passionate about your idea, provide an emotional connection, and develop a strong company identity that stands for something.
A quote I just saw on facebook that is helping me get through today:
There are two basic forces in life: fear and love.
When we are afraid, we pull back from life.
When we are in love, we are open to all that life has to offer with passion, excitement and acceptance.
We need to learn to love ourselves first, in all our glory and our imperfections.
If we cannot love ourselves, we cannot fully open to our ability to love others
or our potential to create. Evolution and all hopes for a better world rest in the
fearlessness and open-hearted vision of people who embrace life.
John Lennon