Success is the Only Option

Heading into my second year of entrepreneurship, I’ve grown comfortable with a lot of the vagaries of self-employment. But every now and then, the siren song of a cubicle job echoes in my head, typically when the Visa bill arrives.

We experienced a budget crunch recently and I’ll admit I panicked. I cancelled some commitments I was looking forward to and sent out a few resumes. I started to think of all that I’d do if money continued to grow tight. Bagger at a grocery store? Get rid of cable? Move back to Chicago and live with my mother?

Then it occurred to me I was spending an inordinate amount of time planning for failure. I realized I hadn’t given my baby business a fair shake – there were several publications I hadn’t reached out to yet, hadn’t tried spinning up business in guest blogging/tweeting/Facebooking for clients. I hadn’t even broken into markets just over the border into Massachusetts.

I’m afraid I’m a bit of a pessimist; well, maybe aggressively pragmatic is a better description. I always try to plan for a way out, a safety net, an escape plan if something doesn’t work out. Being practical is one thing, but dwelling on failure doesn’t do anyone any good.

After I realized I really wanted to give my little business my all, I was determined to stop thinking of exit strategies and start putting more effort into success strategies.

And you know what? The fear vanished. In fact, I thought of the other areas in my life where I was “planning to fail” and reworked them as well. I’ve never felt more confident, and frankly, excited. When failure is not an option, it’s amazing how quickly the worry dissolves and positive action takes its place.

I can’t say that I’ve completely stopped being a worry wart and that I won’t have moments of cubicle weakness, but I do know I’ll start thinking of ways to be successful instead of ways to fail.

Good luck with all your success options!

Cindy Kibbe is owner of Cindy Kibbe Creative Communications, a professional writing services firm based in New England. She has written for several Boston-area media companies and was an editor for a regional business publication for nearly a decade. She can be reached at cindy@kibbecreative.com.