What If I Don’t Know How to Keep My Students Engaged? Overcoming the Fear of Losing Them Along the Way
So lost
Fear is a real thing. Sometimes it's obvious and we avoid what scares us at all cost.
I once knew an older gentleman who was afraid to drive on our highways at home in Barbados.
So he would take the long way all around and use as many back roads as possible to avoid the highway.
A ten minute journey might take him 25 minutes but he was okay with that.
And my hubby?
He will take on and eliminate any bug.
Any bug, that is, except for spiders.
And no he didn't almost crash the car trying to escape one that spun down in front of him while he was circling a roundabout.
😬
Those kinds of fears are obvious to spot. There's a thing we can physically perceive around us that we don't want to deal with. So we avoid it.
Or run screaming and let someone else deal with it.
But then there are those fears.
The ones that are found within us that no one really sees. It's not obvious to others but we know they are there.
Even if we don't want to talk about them.
For educators, course and membership creators, one fear that can grip you, keep you up at night or paralyse your choices is the fear of losing your students along the journey.
And I get it.
As an educator with 18+ years experience I definitely get it. But I also know what you can do to overcome that fear, and others, so you can teach your genius with impact and confidence.
But before we get there, let's look at some of the real fears you may have and address them in practical and relatable ways.
1. Fear of losing credibility
My reputation
In the professional world even before you make a dime you have your credibility.
You have a skill or expertise you've honed through formal training and or hands-on experience that no one can take from you.
You've earned it through time and tears and you want to grip it like a baby who's determined to eat that dirt no matter how much you try to pry it loose.
So when you take your expertise and wisdom and teach it to someone else, it's not just their transformation that’s on the line.
It's also your reputation and credibility.
Will people think you're a fraud if your students abandon your course?
Will people doubt your ability to lead if your membership churn rate is high?
That's a fear that's deeply rooted. But we will pluck it up a bit later to help you free your mind of that burden.
2. Fear of losing revenue
Money to burn?
This is basic Maths at work here.
If your business model depends on the number of students or clients who work with you, you need to keep that number up to meet your revenue goals.
When I was teaching I was paid for the number of hours I put in monthly. So if I had a class of 20 students and 5 were absent for a whole week, my pay never went down.
But in the business world it's much different.
No clients = no revenue
You don't want to be known as the person with that course that nobody finishes. For whatever reason.
😒 It's too boring.
😩 It's too long.
🫤 It's too fluffy.
Because word gets around. And you don't want your membership, course or group program to suffer as a result of poor student experiences.
It's one thing to be new to the scene and you're now trying to market your services.
It's another though, to produce work that people don't connect with. If that happens too much or for too long a time, you could face a dip in revenue when clients dip on you.
Forget a testimonial and kiss that referral goodbye.
And that alone brings its own set of fears you need to battle. But there's definitely hope. Stick around and you'll see how to turn the tide.
3. Fear of wasted effort
Waste of time
As I write this blog post I'm 40 years old. I am not old at all. But neither am I a spring chicken.
I do not want to waste my time because I value it and realise it's a great resource. But it's a finite resource.
It will come to an end one day and I don't know when that day will be 🤷🏾♀️.
You've probably come to the same realisation. Which can be both freeing and frightening.
You can feel bolder because your awareness of time drives you to do things you've never done before.
But yet, there's the fear of wasting time and effort doing something you want to but not seeing any returns.
And that includes creating a course or membership.
You know the goals and dreams you have. And you want to see them come to pass.
What you don't want however, is to feel like you wasted the finite time you have left back creating courses and programs for people who don't enroll.
Or worse. Don't complete them.
I understand the struggle, sis. I see you.
I once created a video presentation for a group. The group dynamics changed and the session went in a totally different direction.
During the session I thought to myself…Did I waste my time doing this thing?
Then I realised I needed to reframe my thinking. I'll show you how you can do the same.
4. Fear of failing students
No clue
Because you're a Christian Woman in business with the love of Christ in you, I know you're not in business just to make money.
You want to serve and help others using the skills and gifts that God put within you.
Which means that you care about your students and their success.
You want them to move forward and get the transformation they need when they work with you.
I know you don't want to feel like you've failed them. And that's a fear every educator, course creator and membership host faces at some point.
Some are too afraid to even begin while others create everything from a place of fear.
And that comes over in what you produce.
I once had a client who was in a really bad space. Despite the sessions we had had previously she had a full meltdown one day and decided that Jesus didn't love her, she had wasted her life and there was no need to go on.
This was beyond sharing your genius and connecting with an audience. The battle for her soul was real.
I started to doubt the conversations we had. I wondered if she decided to end it all, what did that mean for the time we spent together?
I felt as if I had failed her. (She's still alive today BTW, and continues to work through her relationship with God every day.)
As a Christian you're not just working. You're battling the kingdom of darkness every day you open your eyes and decide to obey God.
This fear was one that God showed me how to overcome.
I'll show you how to do the same.
5. Fear of failing God
Forgive me, Lord
This is a big one so I left it for last.
Feeling like you failed your students is not a good feeling.
But when you feel like you've failed God?
That's a next level type of fear.
And the enemy of your soul loves when you entertain this kind of thinking.
Maybe you wonder if you represent Christ well in your business.
Or you feel guilty that your faith isn't clear in your business and you don't know how to balance it with your work.
I once mentored a course creator who messaged me privately after a group session.
She was struggling with how to make sure she glorified Jesus in her business in a way that was known to others.
On the outside you'd think she was doing really well. She checked the boxes of success. But inside she was struggling with her faith and relationship with God in business.
That was a fear she had that I was able to help her overcome with simple, practical strategies.
Let's take a look at some of these strategies you can use too to help you overcome the fear of losing students.
Strategy 1 - Accept that perfection is not the goal
You don't have to have a perfect record to be successful.
David did some horrible things in The Bible.
He committed adultery with Bathsheba, got her pregnant, tried to influence her husband to sleep with her to cover it.
And when that didn't work he set him up on the front line to be murdered.
Whew child! If anybody needed a Savior it was David.
But yet…
God called him a man after His own heart (1 Samuel 13:14).
Not perfect by any means. But still successful and worthy of mention in The Word.
Your job is to steward your gifts to the best of your ability and walk in obedience as God leads.
Do that and you'll have a track record of impact that won't be overshadowed because of your imperfections.
Strategy 2 - Get into God's Word more
No matter what industry you're in, if you're a Christian you're called to ministry as well.
Those feelings of failing your students and The Lord?
The Word of God will help you.
God tells you exactly who you are. And nowhere in His Word does He say you are a failure.
You are His masterpiece. (Ephesians 2:10)
You are fearfully and wonderfully made. (Psalm 139:14)
But until you walk in the truth of who you are in Christ and learn to take every thought captive and bring it under subjection to Jesus Christ, your fears will overtake you.
When you have a thought that doesn't make you feel good I want you to go to God's Word and find where He says that's true about you.
And if you find it, then by all means keep it.
But if you don't find it, (and you know you won't), find the truth instead.
And declare that aloud.
Focus on praying, reading The Word and spending time with The Holy Spirit.
If you have a cup with dirt in it, the easiest way to get rid of the dirt isn’t to throw it out. Just fill it with water continually and eventually the water will wash out the grime until clear water is in the cup,
It’s the same with God’s Word. Put it into your spirit continually and eventually it will ‘wash out’ those contrary thoughts.
That is what will help you overcome the fears you have towards sharing your genius with others.
Strategy 3 - Share testimonies
The simple Gospel
This is not to be confused with social proof.
Yes, there's an element of collecting testimonials for business purposes to encourage others to invest in your offers.
But that's not what I'm talking about.
In talking about sharing testimonies of Jesus Christ and what He has done and is doing in your life.
Revelation 12:11 says that we overcome by the blood of the lamb and by the word of our testimony.
This was one of the strategies I gave the course creator I mentioned earlier to help her blend faith with business.
Remember that you're serving people. Real life humans with real life problems.
Talking about what The Lord is doing in your life is so powerful. It encourages them and you. And can help you build your faith as you build your business.
Very often, the way you treat someone will influence them to work with you more than your skills or highly optimised sales page.
Strategy 4 - Study to show yourself approved
A new thing
We talked about expertise before. You have yours because you trained and got experience.
But it may be time to get new experiences to support your spiritual and mental journey around these fears.
When I started business I had to learn about lead magnets, sales pages, email marketing and so much more.
It's not my main business but I needed to develop skills in those areas to support my business.
No matter what you do, if you teach your wisdom to others you'll need to develop the skill of structuring learning in a way that lands so they get it.
Sales funnels take care of sales. But knowing how to teach people when they do come to you can help you overcome your fears as your skills improve.
That's where Teaching Funnel ™ can help you.
When you begin to understand how to structure learning like the journey that it is, you'll build your confidence to teach your expertise.
The more confident you are the more you realise that your fears can be overcome using practical, actionable steps that show you a reality other than the narratives your fears create.
They come from expert-led training and insights that sharpen skills and create experiences that foster transformation for your students as they work with you.
Its time to sharpen your genius for greater impact today.