Have You Turned Into Your Own Worst Enemy? 

It’s one thing to hear negative talk about yourself from your enemies, but quite another to come to the realization that you’re your own worst enemy because of what you do to undermine your self-confidence and sabotage your efforts.

You may have experienced so much self-loathing that you come to believe what you’re saying. That’s a dangerous place to be because you’ll be frustrated, indecisive and unmotivated to follow a path that will lead you to success.

Imagine talking to a good friend or child with the same negative and hateful words that you use to talk to yourself. If you love that friend or child, you’d never think of using those tactics. 

So, why do you berate yourself? The answer is that the demoralizing voice inside your mind has its own game plan – and that is to make you doubt yourself so much that you fail miserably. 

You certainly wouldn’t want a friend to fail because of what you said. When you begin to acknowledge and understand the power that the thinking process has over you, it’s time to do something about it. 

To overcome your own self, you have to be able to discern which inner words are unrealistic and begin to discard them from your vocabulary. During the self-analysis process, ask yourself if you appreciate the small things in your life. 

It’s great to have grandiose goals and dreams such as a new house, car and plenty of money in the bank, but have you thought about the pleasure of a cool breeze on a hot summer day or the way the rain makes the world seem clean again?

Those are the small things in our lives which must also be appreciated for what they are and what they add to your life. When you learn to appreciate the smaller things in life, the satisfaction and pleasure you feel can make the negative thoughts easier to see for what they are.

When you’re focused on the important things in life, such as your health and all of the blessings that have come your way, it’s more difficult for negatives to take root in your mind.

Selling yourself short by practicing negative self talk can damage and perhaps annihilate your full potential. You’ll hold yourself back from experiences that can make you happy and fulfilled and make excuses about why what you want to do will never happen.

Try not to focus on things you have no control over and concentrate instead on your capabilities. Pat yourself on the back once in awhile. When it comes to Internet marketing, every day you show up to serve is a day worth celebrating!

If you don’t believe in yourself, who will? Successful entrepreneurs have all experienced moments of self doubt, but also have an amazing ability to move past the lack of confidence and force themselves to go on. 

That ability comes from experience and knowledge that even failure provides an advantage of knowing that you tried. Newbies to online marketing can sometimes find themselves in a perpetual state of self doubt. 

They lack the experience to know they can overcome obstacles on the way to becoming a successful entrepreneur. That self doubt can make or break even the most successful entrepreneur and paralyze him or her so that no action is taken, and failure is imminent. 

Remember your school days? You were required to sit at a desk, learn, turn in homework, and take tests to see what you’ve learned. Now, you have to take that initiative on your own. 

Learning, experimenting, and brainstorming new ideas is a bit like learning to ride a bicycle. You’ll likely fall several times, but eventually you’ll get on that bike one day and move on down the path like a pro.

After you’ve ridden the bicycle a few times, you don’t even think about how it works – you just do it. As an entrepreneur, you know there’s always something new to try or think about. 

You can either choose to give it all you’ve got – or leave an idea by the wayside and move on to something else. An idea may work for some, but it may not be for you. You’ll learn to be discretionary in latching on to new ideas or different ways to do things. 

Eventually, that ability will be so innate that you won’t even have to think about it as you move forward to meet your goals. Sometimes, you’ll try something that backfires or simply doesn’t work out the way you thought it would. 

Rather than doubting your ability and becoming paralyzed by the situation, take a step back and remember what got you where you are in the first place. Even newbies can think back and remember what decisions led them to take action and become a marketing entrepreneur. 

It’s likely a decision based on goals you’ve achieved in the past or a deep interest or appreciation you have for the possibility of making more money and having a business of your own.

And then forgive yourself for any mistakes you may have made. These mistakes give you the advantage of knowledge and you can now move ahead knowing you won’t make that mistake ever again. Your ability to succeed has just increased.

Excuses stem from self-doubt and may occur when you least expect it. For example, you may be on the verge of a big launch that you’ve worked on, thought about and strategized for a very long time. 

All of a sudden (maybe in the middle of the night), you break out in a cold sweat and thoughts of failure that you can’t squash. Fear can take over your mind, body and life before you know it - unless you can weed out the legitimate fears from those originating from unfounded doubts about your abilities. 

Although the groundwork of journaling, affirmations and meditation is helpful to assuage these doubts, fear is bound to occur. Rather than giving in to doubts right away and slinking away in the night, be honest with yourself. 

How much of the self-doubt is real – and how much of what you’re feeling, and thinking are right out lies? When your thoughts and fears are legitimate, you should automatically start thinking of ways to turn things around. 

By getting your fears out into the open, you can carefully examine them for legitimacy. Your fears may stem from thinking you’re not an expert in what you’re trying to accomplish. 

If there’s something you don’t know, it’s fairly easy – with all the powers of the Internet – to find answers. Many times, it’s the experience you get from trying (and even failing) that pushes you toward the status of expert. 

And even the thought of being an actual expert in your field may cause you fear and concern. What if you fail or let people down? Think about the worst that can happen if your latest venture fails miserably. 

You may lose money and your time and effort may fall by the wayside, but you may also have learned a huge lesson. Try to look for the positives in any failure. They can help ensure your next success.

It may help you quiet your own fears and doubts by realizing that everyone has them. Even the most successful among us have been humbled by negative thoughts that creep into their minds. How they handle the fears and how long it affects them separates the true entrepreneurs from the wannabes.

The best way to stop making excuses and get on with the business of being successful is to replace those self doubting thoughts the minute they enter your mind. Experiment with what method(s) work best for you.