Does Fear Hold You Back from Unleashing Your Inner #GirlBoss?

Do you constantly evaluate your life, career, and maybe even your sanity? I thought I did but I was wrong. I read #GirlBoss a few months ago and realized that my life was at a stand still. I had been at the same job for a decade, I had the same friends, I didn’t have anything exciting planned, and I was making exactly zero moves to make my life better. My life was completely stagnant and I hadn’t even recognized  it. #GirlBoss was an inspiration. I wasn’t inspired to create a clothing line or conquer eBay, but I was inspired to get off my ass and do something. It was time to put down the Pinot Grigio and make some moves.

#GirlBoss is about Sophia Amoruso’s journey from selling vintage clothing on eBay to becoming the CEO and creative director of Nasty Gal. While the company has been in some big trouble recently, this isn’t about her company, but her attitude and philosophy toward life, business, and success. Ultimately it is about not letting fear hold you back.

As I read #GirlBoss, I found myself highlighting, underlining, and dog-earring page after page. I consolidated alllllllllllllll those quotes and the chose the ones that spoke the most to me.

There are few reasons to stay in an unhappy place in life, but many people (myself included) do it out of fear of the unknown. If you have a semi-decent job with a semi-decent income, it is almost numbing to think about change. Fear of failure is a powerful emotion and leads to becoming complacent. Understanding fear is the first step toward defeating it. Only you have control over your thoughts, choices, and effort. Once you take ownership of those three things, you can create a whole new world for yourself. Take charge of your life, take control, and don’t apologize.

There are some people who will be happy working for someone else their whole life, sitting in a tiny cubicle, doing mundane tasks, and collecting a paycheck. That isn’t me. If you can create your own world, why would you want to live in someone else’s?

No one is going to change their position in life without action. Sitting around and wishing you had a different job, or life, or apartment, isn’t going to get you one. The former British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli said, “ Action may not always bring happiness, but there is no happiness without action.” Which leads me to another #GirlBoss quote…

Most people will read that last quote and think, “well, no shit.” However, it is so easy to put things off until the next day and then the next and then it’s a year later and nothing has happened and the world moved on without you. Don’t let that be you.

Uninspiring, mundane, and tedious environments will only make you uninspired, mundane, and tedious yourself. It is easy to get caught in this trap and most of the time you don’t even know that it happened until you look back over the last five or ten years and wonder what the hell happened to you. There are companies that are seemingly experts at slowly sucking your soul out of you. Recognize it and get out before it’s too late.

You will be told to act a certain way, mainly a boring way, especially if you work in the corporate world. Take it all with a grain of salt. When was the last time a boring person made any significant impact? Many companies want little robots that won’t speak up for themselves and will just do exactly what they are told. The most important thing to do is to stand up for what you believe is right. Whether that means yourself, your idea, another person, etc. Do it and don’t let anyone tell you that you are wrong for it.

Overall, #GirlBoss encourages you to go for it, whatever your “it” is. I had let myself settle for the comfortable and upon reflection realized I wasn’t happy at all. I hadn’t achieved anything I had wanted to achieve and worse than that, I wasn’t even trying. #GirlBoss was an eye-opening kick in the ass and you should read it.

Image via @sabrinachammas on Instagram.