by Naike Moshi

Like many of you, fear is not a stranger in our lives. Fear is a powerful force that can keep us from achieving our goals and live to our fullest potential. Is fear holding you back in pursuing your goals and dreams? Is fear holding you back in trying new things? Do you make excuses when it comes to start building your brand? If the response is YES, to above questions, you are not alone. I was like that and am still a work in progress.

Below are the 5 types of fears that were holding me back in building a personal brand and how I solved them:

1. Fear of “putting myself out there”

For years, I have been scared to put myself out there. I liked to remain on the back burner. I was scared to be vulnerable, to share my thoughts and my experiences. Self- promotion was the last thing on my mind and I always believed that my work would speak for itself.

Pro Tip: When you share your knowledge, expertise, people are receiving value from your content. Not only do you learn and grow but so does your community.

2. Fear of failure and rejection

I have always been scared thinking about what if I run out of content to share? What if no one likes my post? What if no one views my post? What if my writing is full of grammatical errors? These are the questions I still struggle with to date.

Pro Tip: Always remember that failure is part of success. I love this quote, “Why do we fall? So we can get up.” Don’t be afraid to get things wrong because you learn that way.

3. Fear of posing as an imposter

As always, the little voices, usually come in my head, “ Naike, what makes you think you are an expert on this subject matter? I get this fear of being discovered that I am incompetent!

Pro Tip: Try to silence these voices every day in your head and always keep track of your achievements that you did on your own, your contributions that you can be proud of. Consistency results in mastery.

4. Analysis Paralysis (Overthinking)

My thinking cap is always on, to the point where it goes into overdrive. This is where I over analyze, do research from left to right, then I end up not doing anything. When I was starting my personal branding journey I was procrastinating, saying that I will start tomorrow, I will start creating content the next day - then the day comes and nothing happens! Then years just went by with no results and I made a decision to change that!

Pro Tip: Set deadlines, break your goals into easy actionable steps.

5. Fear to start

The first post is always the hardest. I was so scared to publish my first post on Linkedin. I was scared to see if people would like my post, if they would be able to resonate with it.

Pro Tip: Just start. Start your first article, start your first video. Start your first podcast. Once you start, you build momentum and consistency.

Final Thoughts

Fear is a natural human emotion. We all have it and we have to find ways to conquer it. Before you can start to face your fears, it’s critical to understand yourself, your limits, and your capabilities, so that you can be the best version of you when you set off to overcome your obstacles. And the best way to do that is through personal branding. Personal branding is self-discovery. It’s about stepping out of the comfort zones and pushing what is inside of you. Yes, this platform has pushed me to a growth zone and it can do that for you!

Naike Moshi is the Country director of CVPeople Tanzania and founder & CEO of Women in Management Africa (WIMA). She is an MBA graduate and holds a dual degree in Human Resource and Business Management from Tennessee Wesleyan University in USA. She started her professional career in a US Tax Consulting firm and has enjoyed challenging, diverse assignments in the management consultancy industry. Contact Naike via Naike Moshi | LinkedIn