Tips to Help Confront and Overcome Your Business-Related Fears

If you're employed, you're probably dealing with some sort of business-related fear. It’s perfectly normal and quite common to be worried about things like your job performance (do I even know what I'm doing?) your personal finances (will my paycheck cover all of my bills?) and other fears related to work.

Here’s the good news: you don’t have to accept these negative feelings as inevitable. You can take actionable steps to confront your jitters and say goodbye to them, once and for all. Here's how:

Be Intentional With Your Money

Whether you have been in your present job for some time or are about to launch a new career, you may have concerns about your personal finances. It can be stressful to watch your hard-earned paycheck disappear very quickly into the abyss of bills, rent and groceries, with very little leftover for emergencies or even a takeout pizza or two. To help get your personal finances back on track and eliminate this work-related worry, you might want to give the You Need a Budget app a go. Also known as YNAB, this is the perfect app for budget newbies and also features classes with a live instructor. The basics of YNAB is giving every dollar that comes in a “job”—instead of thinking “Hey! I just got paid! I’m heading to the mall!” this app helps you to be intentional about what you want your money to do before you spend it. YNAB will teach you in four simple steps how to take back control of your money and feel like your salary is enough to pay your bills.

Practice Makes Progress

A very common work-related fear relates to job performance. If you work in sales or marketing, it can be unnerving to watch a co-worker effortlessly reeling in customer after customer, while you feel like you can barely get any new prospects to return your calls. While this can be a stressful experience, it should not discourage you from doing your best or cause you to give notice. Chances are good that your co-worker merely has had more practice in the sales arena, so to up your workplace ante, you should consider working on your skills and honing your sales and marketing techniques. 

If you are wondering how you are going to go about doing that, consider picking up a side gig that can help. For example, you can join a professional sales networking group and bond over sales strategies and techniques. Or you can partner with a direct sales company to practice selling on the side. For example, with Amway, a direct sales company that offers home, health and beauty products, you'll be paired with a mentor that will teach you how to make money with Amway, all while developing your sales skill set. 

Remember: “No” is a Complete Sentence

Another common business-related fear is being afraid to tell another person no. This can be your boss asking you to work overtime (for the tenth day in a row) or your co-worker who is asking you to cover for her so she can have the afternoon off. While you might be afraid that saying no to these people will cause them to feel you are not a team player and/or think less of you in some way, habitually agreeing to everything that is asked of you can lead to burnout and reduced productivity—especially if you are doing others’ work for them. 

If these requests are making you feel like others are taking you for granted, it’s time to practice saying no—perhaps by politely declining invitations from trusted friends or family members. Once you get used to turning down people you know well, it’s time to put it to work in the office. A great way to say no to a boss or pushy co-worker is to offer thanks or support—you could say “Thanks so much for thinking of me and trying to get me extra hours” or “I’m glad you can take time off this afternoon” before declining their requests.

No More Hiding

Being fearful is an unpleasant emotion, so it makes sense that you’d want to ignore the feeling or try to hide from it as much as you can. But rather than shying away from what is bothering you at work, it is better to admit it, confront it and then take tangible steps to get the work-related fears and anxieties to go away, hopefully for good.