Ep 42 - How to Be Successful When Fear and a Lack of Confidence Are Holding You Back

Episode Show Notes

 Welcome to Beyond the Clinic! If you’ve ever felt stuck in your business, afraid to take bold steps, or unsure how to overcome self-doubt, this episode is for you. Fear and a lack of confidence are two of the biggest barriers to success, but they don’t have to hold you back any longer.

Today, I’m sharing my personal journey with fear, including the moment that changed everything for me. You’ll also learn my 5R Framework—a powerful mindset tool designed to help you move past fear and take action towards the business and life you truly want.

 What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

• Why fear and self-doubt show up in business and how they keep you stuck
• How comparison can trigger imposter syndrome (and what to do about it)
• My personal story of overcoming fear and stepping into visibility
• The 5R Framework to help you shift your mindset and take bold action
• Why courage isn’t about eliminating fear, but acting despite it
• A simple mindset exercise to help you break free from fear today

 Your Action Steps:

•  Recognise – Identify one fear that’s holding you back right now.
•  Reflect – Where does this fear come from? What has it cost you?
•  Reframe – Shift it into an empowering belief.
•  Review – Check in regularly and celebrate your wins.
•  Ritual – Build mindset habits to keep you moving forward. 

Links mentioned in the episode:

WAIT LIST For Mindset For Business - a 12 week live Programme https://www.sarahalmondbushell.com/mindset-waitlist

Episode 39 My full morning routine

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Episode transcription:

 Sarah Almond Bushell: [00:00:00] Welcome to Beyond the Clinic, the podcast for health professionals, ready to transform their expertise into innovative income streams that extend beyond the traditional clinic model. I'm Sarah Armand Butchell. I'm a registered dietitian and certified business coach and proud owner of two successful online businesses.

I understand the leap from the security of a regular salary can feel intimidating because I've been there too. But it doesn't have to be scary and you do not have to do this alone. Here you'll learn tangible strategies to accelerate your business growth. So if you're dreaming of using your expertise to create impact and a life of freedom, then you're in the right place.

Welcome along. If you've ever felt stuck in your business, afraid to take bold steps or unsure how to overcome that knot of fear in your stomach, then this episode is for you. Today, [00:01:00] we're diving into one of the biggest barriers to success, and that is fear and a lack of confidence. We'll talk about why these feelings show up, we'll talk about how they hold you back, and also what you can do to overcome them.

So by the end you'll walk away with my framework for facing your fears, to shift your mindset and finally feel confident enough to take those big bold steps towards the business and the life that you want. And I'm also going to share a deeply personal story about my own struggles with fear and imposter syndrome.

So if I can do it, so can you. Let's dive in. So have you ever felt the weight of that self doubt that sometimes happens sitting heavy on your chest? Maybe you've got this huge idea, a big dream that you really just can't stop thinking about, but every time you try and move forward, fear whispers in your ear.

It tells [00:02:00] you. You're not ready yet. It tells you, maybe you're not quite good enough yet. And it makes you wonder what if you fail? So for many of us, this fear feels all consuming. It's not just about one moment of hesitation. It's the way it seeps into everything. So you start second guessing your expertise.

You might sign up for extra courses or qualifications. You avoid saying yes to opportunities because the risk just feels too big. And worst of all, you keep shrinking yourself. You keep playing small, essentially, because staying invisible feels a lot safer and a lot more comfortable than stepping into the spotlight.

Maybe you've tried to take action before. You've read the books, you've listened to the podcasts, you've followed all the strategies, but when it comes time to press that go live button, your hands freeze. [00:03:00] You tell yourself, I'll just write a post on social media instead, or maybe I'll do it tomorrow, but tomorrow turns into the next day and the next week and the next month and the next year.

So let me paint a picture for you. You open your Instagram app and you see her, that Insta famous healthcare professional who Seems to have it all. Her videos are polished. Her captions are inspiring. She's attracting clients who hang onto her every word. You see her smiling confidently in her stories, capturing her day to day life, her glossy hair, her painted nails.

She's talking about the amazing results that her clients are achieving and showcasing her business wins. And there you are, sitting in your chair, thinking, Could I be like that? This comparison, it stings a bit, doesn't it? You [00:04:00] can almost feel a lump in your throat or a weight in your chest as you think what does she have that I don't?

But here's the thing, it's not about what she has, it's about the steps that she's taken despite her own natural fears. So does this resonate with you? If it does, I want you to know something. You're not alone with this. This feeling is totally universal. So, many people experience it. Especially ambitious, talented professionals like us.

But honestly, you don't want to let fear win. But the question is Are you ready to stop letting it? So let's take a moment just to imagine what's at stake if you let this fear stay in control. Imagine yourself five years from now. What does your life look like? Are you still in the same place that you are now?

Spinning your wheels? Dreaming of change but too [00:05:00] afraid to take that leap? Are you watching other people succeed? Wondering what have they got that you don't? Let's go a little bit deeper. How does that feel in your body? Maybe your chest tightens with frustration. Maybe there's a lump in your throat.

Maybe it's the ache of regret building as you realise all the time you've lost. Maybe you're overwhelmed by the thought that it might already be too late to start. So that future version of you, five years from now, That fear has already cost you a lot. Opportunities that have passed you by because you didn't feel ready.

You've spent time overthinking instead of creating. The confidence that's slowly eroded simply by staying in your comfort zone. And fear's really sneaky like that. It disguises itself as protection. It's keeping us safe. It's keeping us away from failure, from embarrassment, from judgment. [00:06:00] But in reality?

Fear isn't keeping you safe. It's keeping you small. It shrinks your world. And I don't want you to look back in five years time and wonder, What if I just tried that? But here's the thing, time's going to pass whether you take action or not, and the only difference is what you choose to do or not do. So let me ask you this, in five years from now, do you want to be stuck in that same place, or do you want to be looking back?

to this very moment and say, Oh my goodness, that was the moment that everything changed. So I want to share my personal experience of fear in business. And I'm going to take you back to 2018. My mum had just passed away and I'd found myself at a bit of a crossroads. I was working in the NHS as a paediatric diabetes consultant dietitian.

I was juggling my role as a parent of teenage children, and I was feeling utterly burnt out. [00:07:00] Losing my mum really forced me to reevaluate everything. Life just felt too short to be stuck in a job that no longer fulfilled me. I decided that it was time for me to grow my private practice and turn it into a business that could finally replace my NHS salary.

But I was absolutely terrified. I saw These unqualified experts building huge child nutrition brands. And I thought, why isn't a dietician leading this space? I wanted to be that person, but I couldn't even admit it to myself. I was too afraid of judgment, of failure. And if I'm honest, I was too afraid of what success might bring.

So I started small. I created an Instagram account, as you do, a Facebook page and a website, and I thought, if I build it, they'll come. But guess what? Nothing happened. I didn't get any followers. I didn't get any clients. And to be honest, I knew absolutely [00:08:00] nothing about business strategy back then, so I'm not surprised.

But every post felt like I was just shouting into a void. I watched all of these other experts going live on Instagram, collaborating with guests, making cooking videos in their beautiful kitchens and sharing these behind the scenes snapshots of their day to day lives. And I thought I should be doing that as well.

And you know what? I decided I'll give it a try. But I couldn't. I would prepare ahead. I'd clean my kitchen till it sparkled. I'd go food shopping to get all the ingredients and I'd buy extras in case I'd go to open the avocado and it was all brown inside. I bought light boxes and light rings. I bought lapel microphones.

I bought tripods. Couldn't have been more prepared. But every time I set everything up. That fear took over. I'd think, oh gosh, what if I say something wrong and I'm live? What if [00:09:00] people think I'm boring and just leave my live session after a few seconds? Or what if another dietician joins the call and watches me and says I'm wrong and reports me to the HCPC?

So I thought, you know what, I'll just try pre recording these videos and that way I could edit them to perfection, but guess what? None of them ever made it online. When I look back now, I know that I was paralysed by perfectionism and I'm not a perfectionist by a long shot. I had imposter syndrome and this fear of being judged and that feeling the fear of success, that was a little bit of an odd one, actually.

It was literally, how will I cope if I get inundated with clients? And then one day, everything changed for me. I came across a Facebook ad, as you do, for a five day visibility challenge. It was going to be run in a pop up [00:10:00] Facebook group, and it was clearly aimed at business owners. And the challenge was specifically for women who wanted to take advantage of the online space.

And that sounded perfect. It was right up my street. I was so busy with NHS work, which was mainly home visits. So I knew that I wasn't going to be able to participate live, but because they were in a Facebook group, I could listen back to those daily trainings while I was in my car and driving around the Sussex countryside.

So I was expecting advice on. How to stand perfectly for your videos, how to script what you wanted to say so that your audience stayed engaged and couldn't wait to sign up with you at the end. What I wasn't expecting was really deep and powerful mindset focused questions, like what beliefs do you have about yourself that are holding you back?

What would your life look like if you stepped into your full [00:11:00] potential? I was 100 percent expecting strategy and what I got was 100 percent mindset stuff. I remember pulling my car over at the side of the road, somewhere in rural Sussex on the outskirts of Rye, I think it was, and grabbing a notebook and a pen and starting to write out these answers to these powerful questions that was just mulling over in my mind as I drove.

And that's when it hit me. That was the pivotal moment. It was me. I was standing in my own way. My fear wasn't protecting me. It was actually holding me hostage. And I realised that if I wanted my business to succeed, I had to stop waiting to be ready. And I needed to start taking action, even if it made me feel.

Totally uncomfortable. So that initial experience has happened so many times since and over the years, I've [00:12:00] refined a bit of a formula or a framework to help me out whenever this self doubt creeps in and it tries to get in my way. So I call this my 5R framework, and it's designed to help you recognise, reflect, and reframe your mindset so that you can move forwards in your life and in your business, taking consistent, positive action.

I think the best way to describe this is if you think of your mindset like a backpack that you might carry with you on a long hike. And when it's filled with unnecessary things, fears, doubts, limiting beliefs, it becomes really heavy and it slows you down and it makes the hike hard work and tiring.

But as you unpack these burdens, step by step, slowly by slowly. You lighten your load, making it easier to move forwards with purpose and clarity. So I'm gonna take you through each step of the five R framework. So the number one [00:13:00] is recognised. You've gotta start by identifying what's weighing your backpack down. You might pause on your trail, you might take your backpack off, you might open it up, and you might see so much stuff inside. Essentially what I'm saying here is what fears or limiting beliefs or doubts are you carrying with you?

Write them down. For me, it was the fear of being judged by other dietitians or saying something wrong online. The second R is reflect. Examine each item that you've pulled out of the backpack really closely. You'll notice they're just rocks. They're heavy. They're totally pointless to carry. You want to know where they came from.

 you've got no use for a rucksack full of rocks on your journey. So reflect upon where these fears or doubts or beliefs came from. Are they rooted in fact, or are they just assumptions? For example, I realised that my fear of judgment came [00:14:00] from a single past experience of being heavily criticised as a student dietitian during my clinical training.

And what was surprising was that it had stuck with me right through my career. I identified that I wasn't in any real danger with my current work, and it allowed me to recognise that this was just something from the past that I needed to let go. And that brings me on to the third R, reframe. I need to replace the unnecessary burdens with empowering beliefs.

So instead of thinking, what if I fail? What if I get called out? You just reframe it to, you know what if I succeed beyond my wildest dreams? And it's really helpful if you can say it out loud. Close your eyes and imagine what this looks like. Where can you feel it in your body? What are you doing when you're actually doing this?

So in our backpack [00:15:00] analogy, you're replacing those heavy useless rocks with the essentials that you need for a hike. You're gonna feel the difference immediately because the weight shifts. And that brings us back to the fourth R, and that's Review. Periodically, you've got to check your backpack to ensure that you're only carrying what you need, and that you haven't picked up any extra rocks along the way, because these do sneak in.

So just check in with yourself and ask yourself, Are you getting in your own way at all when things feel hard? Celebrate your small wins along the way as well because that really helps you stay the course and it keeps you motivated. Take a note of what's working really well and also what needs adjusting.

And then the fifth R in my 5R framework is Ritual. And essentially this is about building a habit that keeps your backpack light and The hike that you're on a really pleasurable experience. So I [00:16:00] like to think of this as all of the things that I can do to maintain that positive mindset. So for me, it's journaling, it's gratitude practice.

It's saying positive affirmations. I have a whole routine that I shared with you a couple of episodes back in episode 39. These are the practices that will set your mindset up for success and ensure that you don't pick up any unnecessary rocks as you go.

So I hope you can see from my 5R framework and the analogy of the backpack on a hike, that it's not about mindset for business being one and done because there really isn't any finish line here. It's about lightening the load as you travel so that the road that you do go along is easier and it allows you to go further.

So now it's your turn, isn't it? And what I want you to do is those first three steps in the 5R framework. So step one, grab a notebook and write [00:17:00] down one fear that's holding you back right now. Be specific. That's step one, recognise. Number two, I want you to reflect on where this fear comes from and what it's costing you to stay stuck.

So spend some time here. You might have to really think back about what the root cause or the origin is of this fear. And then step three is simply to reframe it into an empowering belief instead. So for example, if your fear is, I'm not good enough, just reframe it to, you know what, I've got everything I need right now in order to succeed.

And then once you've done that, I'd love for you to commit to taking one small bold action that you can do today. It might be posting a video. It might be pitching to a client. It might be sharing your story online. But take one positive action as a result of this. So here's what I want you to remember.

Being brave [00:18:00] and courage isn't the absence of fear. It's about taking action, even when fear is present in your life, because every small step that you take is a step towards becoming the person that you want to become. And really don't underestimate the power of small actions. That one video that you post today could inspire someone to work with you.

That one pitch that you make could land you a dream client. That one story you share could make someone feel seen and understood. Change happens in the smallest but the boldest moments. So if this has resonated, I want you to know that you are capable of so much more than you give yourself credit for.

 The life and the business that you want is just on the other side of fear. And the only way to get there is to take that first step. So thank you so much for joining me today. We've explored how fear and self doubt can keep you stuck.[00:19:00]

How they creep into every aspect of your business and what's at stake if you let them win. I've shared with you my personal journey of moving through fear and the framework that I use to shift my mindset when self doubt sneaks in. But the most important thing to remember is this, you don't have to let fear control your future.

Change doesn't come from waiting for that perfect moment. It comes from taking bold, imperfect action. Every small step you take is a step closer to the business and the life that you dream of. So what's your first step going to be? Because five years from now, I want you to look back and say, that was the moment that everything changed.

 And if this episode resonated with you, share it with someone who needs to hear it and let's build their confidence to move past fear and into the lives that we are meant to live together. I'll see you next time on Beyond the Clinic. 

That's it for another week. Thank you so much for joining me as we explore the abundance of strategies to help you recapture that feeling of possibility and excitement as you drive your business forwards and beyond the clinic room. If you found today's episode inspirational, then don't forget to like and subscribe to the show to stay in the loop for more valuable advice that I'm going to be sharing each week.

If you want to be the first to hear about new episode releases, news and ways that I can support your business growth, then please don't forget to check out the links in the show notes. And you can also connect with me from there. Don't keep me a secret, I would be delighted if you left a review and shared this podcast with your colleagues.

Until next time, bye for now.