Business Growth Anxiety: Why Success Still Feels Like Failure

Why does your business look like it’s working… but feel like it isn’t?

Have you experienced business growth anxiety? It's a common mind loop that doesn’t get talked about much.

On the surface, you are up and running. Things are working, and systems are in place. From the outside, it's all looking wonderful, so why are you feeling like something is off?

I have done this a million times.

You're at the stage where 'the build' has taken over. At this point, we stop seeing what’s growing and start seeing what’s missing.

Why haven't I reached the audience? Why am I not selling more?

You focus on all the stuff that hasn’t arrived yet, so our brains are telling us we are failing.

We then justify those thoughts and attach stories like, "This is not up to my standard!", or "This is not what I am aiming for."

If you are REALLY good at this, you may lump in some unhealthy self-sabbotage while you are at it.

"I'm not cut out for this", " I am rubbish!"

Beware! It’s a mind loop.

We build something, stabilise it and constantly improve it. Then our focus moves straight to the gap between where it IS and where we think it SHOULD be.

The business may be growing, but our sense of progress isn't, and that's the pattern that needs breaking.

Not all breakups are bad. You know how I love a pattern break-up.

There’s solid research behind this. We, humans, are wired to give more attention to problems and threats than to the stuff that we have achieved! To our progress and stability. It’s got a name. It's called negativity bias. Baumeister and colleagues found that negative information has a stronger effect on our thinking and behaviour than positive information of the same intensity.

Sadly, that bias doesn’t switch off when we become a business owner; it gets worse!

I know seeing the gaps is part of the job, but because we become responsible for outcomes, we start scanning more to avoid the consequences, our mind keeps looking for what isn’t working yet.

Attention doesn’t just observe. It directs.

If most of our thinking sits on what ISN'T happening, our decisions begin to follow that line. We are working from a place of lack. We may push or force something from a place of urgency. Ultimately, we are losing sight of what’s already gaining traction and doing ourselves a massive disservice.

Over time, this chips away and changes how our business FEELS to run. At that point, there's far more pressure than there needs to be. It becomes less enjoyable, AND....we may actually be doing alright!

There’s another layer to this that people don’t like admitting.

When something does start to work, exposure grows. It's what we want, right? More visibility? But with that comes more expectation and much more to lose.

Stay with me here...

When we focus on what isn’t there yet, we keep ourselves slightly out of reach. On paper, we are chasing the next stage, but we keep ourselves slightly disconnected, scuppering our own progress.

So what's the antidote?

Certainly not forcing positivity. We have to separate the two types of thinking.

Factual: What needs improving, what’s underperforming, where the gaps are.

Generative. What is working, what is gaining traction, what already has energy behind it?

Can you spot the difference?

If you spend most of your time in the first 'What needs' thought process, the business starts to feel like a list of problems.

If you give space to the second, 'What is' mindset - you start to build on what’s already working.

Hoorah!

It's a really subtle space to inhabit, and I've experienced it many times; I now see what I am doing and am able to correct it.

There’s nothing wrong with wanting more. That’s part of building anything. But if every stage becomes invisible the moment you reach it, you don’t get to experience any of it. You just move the line and keep chasing. And no one wants that.

Your business can always do more. But are you willing to see what it’s already doing before you decide what comes next?

If you suffer from business growth anxiety and you want to talk it through properly, book a Session.