Get comfortable being uncomfortable. If you want to grow personally or professionally it takes work. Most of the work requires you to step outside of your comfort zone into unknown territory. Fear is never going to disappear. If you are going to be successful or go after your dreams, then there will always be a certain level of fear. Just know that this is simply feedback. It’s letting you know you are stepping outside of your comfort zone in the effort of growth, and this is normal. Celebrate this realization and take action anyway. I’ve realized that I need to get comfortable being uncomfortable because that is what it takes to evolve and grow into a new version of yourself. I’ve had to get comfortable speaking to large groups of people and sharing my personal stories of struggle with the public.
The Fear of Failure is one of the most common restraints that holds people back from pursuing great ideas. Imagine if we could become totally free from the fear of failure. Imagine what we could then manifest and create. In this interview series, we are talking to leaders who can share stories and insights from their experience about “Becoming Free From the Fear of Failure.” As a part of this series, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Carrie Schmidt.
As the Founder and CEO of Infinite SOULutions, LLC, Carrie Schmidt puts the SOUL into SOULutions by transforming lives personally and professionally. She is a Certified Life Mastery Consultant and Executive Leadership Coach who empowers her clients to gain clarity of purpose, overcome limiting beliefs, and develop a strategic roadmap to achieve their highest goals. A single mother who achieved executive leadership roles and a 6-figure salary, Carrie still felt a longing for something greater. She embarked on a spiritual journey of personal discovery that turned into a mission to help raise human consciousness and mental health awareness. Carrie just launched her first book, “Behind the Screen. Uncover the Truth: Connect to your Power, Passion, Purpose!” which is available to purchase on Amazon. She teaches a 7-Step Life Timeline System of Transformation in her book and offers a supplemental 12-week coaching program to Master your Mindset & Heal your Soul. Visit carrie-schmidt.com to learn more.
Thank you so much for joining us! Our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’?
Hello! Thank you for having me. After raising my now 15-year-old son on my own and climbing the corporate ladder to achieve everything I ever worked for, I still felt a longing for something greater. My soul has a purpose and I needed to connect to my inner power to feel truly fulfilled. I have read tons of self-development books, attended several workshops, and worked with life coaches to figure out what my passion really was, and understand my purpose for living. My journey is one of discovery and transformation and I’m so happy and grateful to now share my realizations with the world through “Behind the Screen.”
Can you share with us the most interesting story from your career? Can you tell us what lessons or ‘take aways’ you learned from that?
I started my professional career in the manufacturing industry as a Customer Service Representative at 26 years old. The Plant Manager who hired me later shared with me that some of the other managers in the facility said he made a mistake by hiring me. They said, “I was too green.” Five years later, I was promoted to Plant Manager. Five years after that, I became the General Manager with full P&L responsibility for a $100 million dollar manufacturing facility. I was a 35-year-old woman rising in a mostly male-dominated industry. I learned so much during that decade of my life.
- Don’t ever doubt your own abilities or allow anyone else to shadow your growth potential. It doesn’t matter if you are a woman, white, black, brown, or blue, you can do anything you set your mind out to do!
- Ask for the job. Write a Thank You Letter immediately following your interview. Show up to every situation with a heart full of gratitude and be willing to be of service. Every connection counts so make sure that you act when your intuition tells you to do so.
- Ask for a raise, ask for the promotion, and don’t ever let your fear, doubt, or worry hold you back from achieving the greatness you desire and deserve. You were born with greatness. Let the world see you shine.
You are a successful leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
- Determination — I was determined to provide the best life for my son, financially, emotionally, and spiritually. I took action daily, even when it was hard because I had an innocent life to care for. I had something to prove and the willpower to succeed.
- Resiliency — never give up. This is key to achieving your desired success. Most people give up, oftentimes, right before their desired breakthrough is realized. Life is not always easy. When times are tough, you need to tap into your inner power to continue taking action on your goals. I had to be resilient to deal with extremely tough situations and hurdles at work.
- Effective Communication — interpersonal skills are critical. Life transpires according to our relationships be it at home, at work, with your children, and yourself. We must learn how to be the best communicators we can to effectively achieve our desired outcomes. Communication is everything. I learned that listening is much more important than speaking.
Ok, thank you for all that. Now let’s shift to the main focus of this interview. We would like to explore and flesh out the concept of becoming free from failure. Let’s zoom in a bit. From your experience, why exactly are people so afraid of failure? Why is failure so frightening to us?
As human beings, we are wired within our central nervous system for survival purposes to either fight or flee. This is known as the Fight or Flight Response, or your stress response. It automatically kicks on when you perceive a threat or danger. We perceive failure as being dangerous. You see, our perspective or perception shapes our realities. Taking this concept a bit further, I don’t think it’s actually failure we are all so afraid of. We fear the unknown. We fear something that is outside of our comfort zones or forces us to grow in ways we haven’t experienced before. It is change and change is scary for most people. The “what-if’s” flood our minds with worry and triggers our stress response to turn on preparing us for the danger we perceive.
What are the downsides of being afraid of failure? How can it limit people?
Fear limits people from taking action on their dreams. Our souls have a purpose and we often long for something greater. There is a pull for more, but the fear shadows the opportunity and prevents us from seeing the solutions. Instead, we see all the perceived failures. We see all the limitations and circumstances holding us back from achieving the dreams desired. It limits people from speaking up, asking questions, or taking chances. It limits people from pursuing their passion from a career standpoint, finding true love, and even traveling to new places or meeting new people.
In contrast, can you help articulate a few ways how becoming free from the free of failure can help improve our lives?
There are two ways to look at this situation. Ego versus Spirit. Your ego is simply an illusion created in your own mind. It’s been wired since childhood to remind you of your insecurities, past failures, and negative experiences. It paints false pictures in your mind of a story that has not even happened yet because its job is to keep you stuck in your comfort zone. It blocks your abundance and fuels your worry. The spirit, on the other hand, is your divine power. The part of you that feels the fire in your heart and wants to do something different. It is connected to infinite possibilities and opportunities that the Universe provides because nature is always expanding. Each present moment is your opportunity to decide if you will listen to your egoic mind or follow your spiritual knowledge. Listen to the voice of intuition. It may be a soft or faint whisper, gut feeling, or inner knowing. This is your spirit. The ego speaks the loudest and usually speaks first, whereas the spirit is gentle and still. When you feel anxious, that’s powered by the ego. Take time to breathe, be still, and connect to the inner guidance available to you anytime.
We would love to hear your story about your experience dealing with failure. Would you be able to share a story about that with us?
I started my coaching and consulting business at the end of 2019 and officially exited my corporate job in January 2020. It was time to follow my dreams and I had every intention to hit the ground running to grow my business exponentially in 2020. Then COVID hit! March of 2020, the world shut down. No more public speaking or in-person networking! Fear set in! How will I ever gain new clients if I can’t network and speak at events?! That was a tough year for everyone living. We had to pivot and find alternative ways to continue our businesses, relationships, and ways of living. My savings account dwindled to nothing. I started applying to every job possible on Indeed. I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to provide when I was always the sole provider. I had to get a job. Luckily, I got hired as VP of Operations for an Automation company. I closed the door to my home office and stopped writing the book I had planned to get published that year. I let the fear win.
How did you rebound and recover after that? What did you learn from this whole episode? What advice would you give to others based on that story?
In August of 2020, I went back to working an 8–5 job. I had to learn a whole new operation and process. I had to build a team from the ground up as the new VP of Operations. It was hard. It wasn’t what I really wanted to do, but it paid the bills and offered healthcare insurance. I lasted 9-months on the job. I was able to build a strong team and learn so many new things about engineering that I hadn’t known before. It helped me to see life from another perspective. Then, I decided to resign. I couldn’t let my dream die. I had a book to publish and lives to transform. I befriended my fear and decided to put 100,000% into my fulfilling my dream and living out my purpose. I make a conscious choice to override my fear daily. You can acknowledge it’s there but chose to partner with your spirit and follow your faith instead. This was the most amazing journey because it prepared me for what I needed at that time. It validated that I was meant to be doing what I am doing now. My vision is to reach, teach, and transform over 1 million lives globally by helping people connect to their power, passion, and purpose. I had to do it myself to show others the truth. My book is available to purchase on Amazon right now!
Fantastic. Here is the main question of our interview. In your opinion, what are 5 steps that everyone can take to become free from the fear of failure”? Please share a story or an example for each.
- Get comfortable being uncomfortable. If you want to grow personally or professionally it takes work. Most of the work requires you to step outside of your comfort zone into unknown territory. Fear is never going to disappear. If you are going to be successful or go after your dreams, then there will always be a certain level of fear. Just know that this is simply feedback. It’s letting you know you are stepping outside of your comfort zone in the effort of growth, and this is normal. Celebrate this realization and take action anyway. I’ve realized that I need to get comfortable being uncomfortable because that is what it takes to evolve and grow into a new version of yourself. I’ve had to get comfortable speaking to large groups of people and sharing my personal stories of struggle with the public.
- Check yourself. Why are you so afraid to fail? Where does this fear stem from? What are your thoughts and feelings about failure? Did you inherit a certain way of thinking about failure that caused you to have insecurities or self-doubt? Identify why you feel this way and when you picked up this programming. Did it come from your childhood? The key here is to identify your subconscious programming so you can reprogram your mindset about failure to one that isn’t fearful.
- Flip your perspective. There is a big difference between fear having control of us versus us having control of our fear. It’s your gateway to control; thoughts that empower your physical being. The magic happens when you shift your mind from a fear-based thought to one of increase, expansion, and soul-serving purpose. Stop focusing on the “what-if’s,” or the obstacles and start focusing on the infinite opportunities that exist at this moment when you make a conscious effort to direct your energy and attention there. Observe the outcome of your situation from a positive perspective. Vision yourself with all 5 senses being the person who succeeded. Clarity is power so define your success and play it like a movie on repeat in your mind’s eye. You can’t think expansive and contractive thoughts at the same time so choose the expansive way of thinking.
- Take baby steps every day. Fear paralyzes us from taking action when we know we should. It stops us in our tracks. Don’t let it. Ask yourself, “What is one thing that I can do today to move me in the direction of my dream or desired success?” Then, do it. Don’t dwell on it or worry about what might happen. Just do it! Take action. I say this out loud every single day and then take an action step towards my goals. I say, “I can… I will… I AM!” You are what you believe and become how you feel. I say, and I fully believe that “I can be interviewed by Oprah Winfrey, I will be interviewed by Oprah Winfrey, I AM being interviewed by Oprah Winfrey!!!!” Rephrase this to fit your dreams or goals — and — BELIEVE it with your entire mind, body, and soul. Then 🡪 take action.
- Get support. We are not meant to go through difficult or challenging times alone. We feel a greater sense of power and confidence when we have a support system or partners in believing. Get support from a friend, mentor, or loved one. You can even hire a coach to empower your way of thinking, feeling, and acting. Ask for help. It shows your strength and willingness to grow. Fear doesn’t mean that you can’t do something, it just means you haven’t done it yet. It is much easier to take action when you have a strong sense of community and support.
The famous Greek philosopher Aristotle once said, “It is possible to fail in many ways…while to succeed is possible only in one way.” Based on your experience, have you found this quote to be true? What do you think Aristotle really meant?
To succeed, you have to be willing to never give up. This means that fear will not be a stumbling block for you, but instead use it as a steppingstone. I could have allowed my own fear to win by staying “stuck” in a corporate 8–5 job. I could have allowed my fear to win by staying “stuck” in that emotionally exhausting relationship. I could have allowed my fear to win by never moving out of my hometown. Instead, I decided to feed my faith and act on my yearning for more. I resigned from the job. I started my business. I finished the book. I did the work. I did the work while the fear of failure sat in the back of my mind. Failure is really just a figment of your imagination of an outcome that hasn’t happened yet. Use your imagination to vision success! Failure doesn’t exist. We receive feedback. Use the feedback to make more informed decisions. Speak your vision out loud. I did so every day. I made the phone calls and showed up at the events. I stepped outside of my comfort zone and each time I did… it led to another opportunity and adventure. Life is meant to be lived and experienced. It’s fun when you realize you are a co-creator and can navigate effectively through the invisible forces of feedback.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the greatest amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
I had the vision a few years ago to create the Youth Vision Movement. We need to empower, educate, and engage our youth to believe in their dreams while teaching them the tools to bridge the gap between the perspectives of failure and success. Let’s teach high school and college kids the power of their minds, the actual science behind spirituality, and other Universal Laws that can be used to shift the level of consciousness on this planet to unite and harmonize our hearts for the betterment of the future generations. We need to get “Behind the Screen” and clean it to transform our way of thinking, feeling, and acting.
We are blessed that some very prominent leaders read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US, with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them 🙂
#oprahwinfrey I would love to spend time talking about consciousness and personal transformation with Oprah Winfrey in her Maui Garden.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
Go to www.carrie-schmidt.com and follow me on Instagram @carebearschmidt, Facebook @coachcarrieschmidt, and get the book on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09ZCJNFK3
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for the time you spent on this. We wish you only continued success.