OK, so everyone has irrational fears, right? I mean, I’ve seen a grown woman scream at the top of her lungs and literally run away from a spider. That’s not rational. I know someone who won’t walk over sidewalk grates. Even if she has seen tons of other people walk over them and not fall through them to their death. Again, not rational. My niece is afraid of… wait for it… chickens!?! So, what is my irrational fear? Calling people that I don’t know on the phone. I totally realize that it is absolutely irrational. I don’t even really know what it is that I’m afraid of. I just HATE calling people that I don’t know (if I’m honest, I don’t even really like calling people that I do know… I’m just not a big fan of the phone).

But, I am a business owner, and I joined an awesome networking group a couple years back so that I wouldn’t have to make cold calls for my business. And through this, I get most of my business from referrals – without having to make cold calls! But, once a year my group has a visitor’s day where we invite people and make a big push to bring visitors (if you are a small business owner in Orange County and looking to grow your business, you should come! It is Thursday May 11 in Yorba Linda – if you want more info, ask in the comments or click here for details). And part of the process is sending out invitations to people… and then following up the letter with a phone call.

This is not my favorite part of networking. But today, I stopped putting it off and called 25 people. I’m not going to lie and say it was easy to get started. I was going to start first thing this morning, but then I found some really important things to do that I just couldn’t possibly put off until later. Then when I finished those really important things, I found some more really important things that I couldn’t put off until later and I did them too (I ended up having a very productive morning). Then it was lunch time and I knew that I couldn’t make these calls at lunch time. Then I had to pick my boys up from school (they get out early on Wednesdays). Then I got home and paced around the house psyching myself up for it for a good 20 minutes, and then… I made the calls.

The calls went totally fine. Everyone was nice enough. Not a single person cussed me out or called me any names or drove over to my house to beat me up. It even got easier as I went along (I said easier, not easy). But, I have once again (see day 1 for my first realization) realized what a wimp I have let myself become and highlighted my amazing need for this comfort bomb.