Is “Not Knowing Enough” Stopping You?

It is not only by the questions we have answered that progress may be measured, but also by those we are still asking. Freda Adler

I am still learning. Michelangelo

We are more often frightened than hurt. Our troubles spring more often from fancy then reality. Seneca

Thinking it Through

As I talk with people, there is a fear common among so many entrepreneurs and service professionals. A fear that haunts them and removes much of the joy they could experience in their business. It is the fear that they do not provide enough value or they don’t know enough. Much to my amazement I have heard that fear expressed by some of the most competent, excellent, service providers that I know. It doesn’t make any sense but that is the problem with fear. It doesn’t have to make sense.
I met a highly educated and articulate man on the plane recently. He had been on a spiritual journey and longed to share what he was learning. He had started a book but felt he need to restart it as he had learned so much more. I asked him what was stopping him from teaching small groups of people what he had learned so far? His answer was that he didn’t know enough yet. That’s fear talking! Fear of being wrong. Fear of not having all the answers. Fear that people might criticize you. The problem with waiting until you have all the answers is that it will never come!
There is another problem in waiting for the holy grail of “knowing everything”. By the time you feel you are close, you are so far down the path, that it is hard to help others who are struggling at the beginning of the journey. For example, I was talking with a Fitness Coach. She had struggled with her weight as a young women. As she begin learning about nutrition and fitness she started teaching it. She started right away sharing what she had learned and experienced. She gave a huge amount of value to those she worked with. If she had waited until she was perfectly fit and at her ideal weight odds are that she would not have communicated as effectively with her struggling clients.
As a business owner, service provider and human-being learning and growing should be and will be a part of the package. Don’t wait to share. You will be providing value as long as you are giving from your passion. Give what you know now and I promise many people will benefit from what you have to offer.

Challenge

1. In what area of your life are you not sharing value because you “don’t know enough”?

2. Is there a business you are passionate about but afraid to start?

3. Take a minute to sit down and list all the ways you give value in your business or career. Give yourself credit for it!