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Low Self-Esteem
Stop Comparing Yourself To Other Marketers
Comparing yourself to other marketers can only hurt your current and future prospects. You may not have the same level of experience as the people you’re comparing yourself to, and another person’s accomplishment may not be the miraculous turnaround you think it is.
Comparisons between yourself and other marketers might lead to self-doubt. Some people appear to have the Midas touch with whatever subject they choose to work on, but you have no idea what goes on behind the scenes to achieve their success.
Successful entrepreneurs have most likely invested a significant amount of time, money, and effort into their businesses. It may appear simple, but chances are they had numerous doubts about their own ability to succeed before they started.
Comparison to others and the resulting self-doubt happens in any industry, but it’s more common in Internet marketing because you’re always putting yourself out there and promoting yourself and your ideas to other people.
If the inevitable failures are factored in, another person’s success may appear to you to be very different. Huge and consistent triumphs of others can make you feel like a loser – since someone is always generating more money or appears to be successful with every product launch.
Comparisons like these are harmful to your self-esteem and might derail your goals. You may be unaware of their previous failures or the amount of time and money they’ve invested to get to this point.
Viewing similarities as challenges is one approach to look at things differently. “If she can do it, I know I can!” could be the adrenaline boost you need to take action and achieve your own success.
Many people who have achieved some level of success use comparisons to others to plan their future business movements and as a motivator for them. It provides quick insight to trends and what’s working for others so you can incorporate many of the same ideas for yourself.
Many types of businesses are fiercely competitive, notably Internet marketing. Examining the tactics of other marketers might be beneficial if you use them as models rather than negatively comparing yourself to them.
Self-doubt can become your worst enemy in the future. Avoid making unfavorable comparisons to others and instead concentrate on your current and future goals to achieve the success you desire.
Entrepreneurs Will Only Be Validated By Themselves
Validation is important to your self-esteem and can help lift you to new heights. Without it, self doubt sets in and you begin to lose belief in your ability to meet your goals. A child hopefully receives validation from his or her parents.
Positive reinforcement nudges the child to reach higher and try new things. Online entrepreneurs, however, usually have to validate themselves to feel good about themselves and what they’ve already accomplished.
The explanation for this could be that few people understand how Internet marketing works and how much planning and preparation an entrepreneur needs to achieve the desired outcomes. When it comes to certifying your work, there are several options.
Although praise and gratitude may arrive unexpectedly, there are ways to celebrate yourself and your accomplishments. A gratitude diary can assist you in recognizing all of the good things that occurred throughout your day or week.
Make a list of decisions you’re proud of, as well as goals you’ve achieved with your time and effort. Even the smallest accomplishments can be a cause for celebration.
Avoid judging yourself harshly. Those are negative thoughts you don’t need and can affect your emotions and decision-making. Find the positive in what you’re accomplishing and don’t let anyone else have a part in judging you too harshly.
Ask yourself what you require right now to help you feel healthier, more motivated, or more energetic in order to achieve and exceed the goals you’ve set for yourself. Rather of rejecting or depriving yourself, try to provide what you require.
If you’re feeling down and out, your body may want some activity or correct nutrition to feel more energized. When you disregard your sentiments, it’s easy to become caught up in negative thinking and forget all of your accomplishments.
Validating oneself promotes self-esteem and maintains the belief that you can achieve everything you set your mind to. Remember that validating yourself is not the same as self-indulgence.
It’s a way to renew your spirit of entrepreneurship and carry on to reach the success you long for. You’ll gain strength and be better able to calm the negative and debilitating thoughts when you find ways to reassure yourself that you’re worthy of the success you seek and extremely able to find the path to reach it.
Finding The Right Balance Between Desensitization And Taking Things Too Seriously
Criticism is sometimes difficult to manage. Constructive criticism, however well delivered, can hurt as much as the intentionally cruel criticism, but if you view both types the right way, it can be very helpful to you in your business ventures.
Some people appear to be unaffected by criticism. Others become enraged when they are chastised, which may jeopardize their final goals. The best way to deal with criticism is to strike a balance between desensitizing yourself to the point of being unfeeling – and taking it too personally to the point of being discouraged and sabotaging your efforts.
Because it isn’t done face to face, online criticism can be especially vicious. You are free to criticize with harsher words because you are not concerned about the other person’s reaction.
When someone criticizes your efforts, he may be in a foul mood and unjustly take it out on you. Your initial instinct may be to lash out at the person with your own harsh comments.
Taking a minute to think about it is the greatest approach to combat that initial reaction and avoid reacting in a way you’ll regret. Take a deep breath, take a step back, and wait until you’ve cooled down and can think more clearly before reacting.
Fight the negatives with positives. If someone has criticized you in a way that is rude and unjustified, finding a kernel of honest feedback in the criticism can turn it around so that both you and the person who criticized can learn from it.
Criticism can provide you a unique opportunity to improve – and to demonstrate to others that you have a distinct and positive perspective on criticism. It will probably surprise others when you appreciate them for their input (especially those who are severe critics).
Your attitude has the potential to change their minds and convert them into fans. You’ll feel better about yourself even if the person doesn’t respond positively to your good attitude.
It is possible to grow your business by learning from criticism. The critique may only teach you a small amount of truth, but it may motivate you to put more effort into your online efforts.
Never let the words of others result in a heap of self doubt. Take their $0.02 and apply it wherever you feel it’s worthy and then discard the rest. Stay above the fray and accept criticism with grace and diplomacy rather than giving in to your first reaction.
Criticism and self doubt affect the way you think and if you are living with doubt you need to start to think differently. If you want to know more about developing a positive success mindset, check out the featured resource below for a free report; download, read it and take action 🙂
Criticism Is Not Always Negative
Criticism Is Not Always Negative
Do you struggle to handle criticism? While some criticism does come from a negative place, most of the time it is meant with love and good intentions. Unfortunately, even if the person criticizing you is coming from a good place, it can still hurt. If you struggle to handle criticism, here we’ll look at why it isn’t always a negative thing.
Differentiating Between Negative And Positive Criticism
There are a few ways to determine whether criticism is coming from a positive or negative place. It could be that you naturally respond badly to criticism of any kind. Many people are naturally defensive when they are met with criticism. So, the first step is to tame that initial negative reaction.
Try and view the criticism with an open mind. Remember, none of us are perfect! Could there be any truth in what the person is saying? Also pay attention to how the criticism is delivered. Do they give a reason for their feedback, or does it appear that they are nit-picking just to be difficult?
Criticism can come from a negative place, but often it is said to help us improve. Being able to recognize when somebody is being helpful, or just negative, is important.
The Role Of Self-Esteem
Your self-esteem will largely determine how you react to criticism. The more confident you are, the less likely criticism is to affect you. Those who have a healthy dose of self-esteem will be able to learn from any criticism they receive without taking it too personally.
Think about your own self-esteem. Could it use some improvement? If so, focus on ways to build up your self-esteem and you’ll notice this has a direct impact on your ability to handle criticism. You’ll find a lot of awesome self-esteem building tips online.
Top Tips To Deal With People Who Criticize Instead Of Critique
We’ve all been criticized when what we needed was an honest critique, with positive and negative points. As you work on building up your self-esteem, there are some other tips you can implement to deal with overly critical or negative people.
Staying calm is important. You may find when you are met with criticism, your initial reaction is anger. However, if you express anger, it isn’t going to help the situation. In fact, it could work in your critic’s favor! Remaining calm gives, you the ability to fully understand where the criticism is coming from and enables you to deal with it much better.
If the problems are coming from your boss, try and get to the bottom of where the feedback is coming from. If you feel it is still unjust, ask to speak to somebody higher up in the company. Sometimes we need an outsiders view to see what is really happening.
Overall, criticism is never nice to deal with. However, it isn’t always meant as a negative. Some criticism can help you to grow and become a better person. So, don’t be quick to dismiss any criticism thrown your way. Think about it with an open mind and decide whether there is something to be learned.
Is Negativity Ruining Your Self Esteem
When you have a negative outlook, it tends to affect every aspect of your life. Studies have shown that negative self-talk can cause issues with self-esteem.
With poor self-esteem, you may feel worthless, or like you don’t measure up to everyone else. It can affect your relationships and prevent you from taking on opportunities.
Is negativity ruining your self-esteem? You can discover if negative self-talk is dragging your self-esteem down, as well as what signs you need to watch for.
How Negativity Impacts Self-Esteem
Self-esteem can both be a cause of negativity, and a result of it. When you have a negative mindset, it often stems from feeling inadequate or due to a lack of control over a situation. This leads to negative self-talk, such as you’ll never amount to anything, or you aren’t good enough to achieve success.
The trouble with negative thoughts is that they multiply quickly. Over time, you’ll find they greatly affect your confidence and cause you to question your value. Negativity is a self-esteem killer, causing you to doubt everything as well as yourself.
Understanding Negative Self-Talk
Negative self-talk is basically your inner critic reminding you of all the negative things you or others have said about you. Negative self-talk can have a significant impact on your self-esteem, confidence, and overall wellbeing.
Put simply, negative self-talk prevents you from believing in yourself and your abilities. It keeps you from making positive changes and achieving success.
Signs You Have Low Self-Esteem
So, how do you know if you have low self-esteem? There are some signs to look out for which may suggest your self-esteem could use some work. These include:
- You have little confidence
- You compare yourself negatively to others
- You find it difficult asking for help
- You worry a lot
- You find it difficult to accept compliments
These are just a small number of the signs of low self-esteem. The question is, how can you eliminate negativity and build up your self-esteem?
Ways To Reduce Negativity And Build Self-Esteem
If you are ready to start combatting your negativity and building up self-esteem, there are a few things you can do. Start by assessing what is contributing towards your negativity. Is it past experiences such as being bullied at school for example? By figuring out where your negativity stems from, you’ll be able to start working on overcoming it.
Surrounding yourself with positive people is a great way to challenge negativity. The people you surround yourself with make a huge difference to how you feel. If you are around negative people, you yourself will end up feeling more negative.
Looking after yourself, utilizing positive affirmations, and stopping comparing yourself to others are also good tips you can follow.
If you have poor self-esteem, the amount of negativity you experience could be partially to blame. As you focus on becoming more positive, you’ll find that you automatically begin to feel happier and more confident.
Whatever you want in life will require discipline to achieve and being able to reframe criticism and negativity is a small part of that. And if you want to know more about harnessing the power of self-discipline, then check out the featured resource below for a free detailed report; download, read it and take action 🙂
3 Negative Beliefs That Hold Entrepreneurs Back
3 Negative Beliefs That Hold Entrepreneurs Back
“The moment you doubt whether you can fly, you cease for ever to be able to do it.”
– J. M. Barrie, Peter Pan
Our lives are a reflection of our beliefs. Most of us know this, and yet, we cling on to old negative beliefs – even when they hold us back.
Discarding them and creating new beliefs seems to be a Herculean task.
These beliefs (which are usually assumptions and misconceptions) color our world views and justify our actions.
Yet, if we stopped to think about it and ask ourselves, “Where did we get these beliefs from?” … we’d realize that most of them were ingrained in us by our parents, teachers and other ‘well-meaning and sensible’ adults when we were young.
In most cases, these self-limiting and defeatist beliefs will impede your progress when you decide to become an entrepreneur. You’ll be setting yourself up for failure from the get-go.
Let’s look at some of the most common beliefs that are injurious to your goals…
Money Makes Money
This is probably the biggest fallacy of the lot. This misconception creates a catch-22 situation. You want to get into business to improve your financial standing… but you need money to get into business – and that’s money you don’t currently have.
So you’re doomed.
But is this reasoning valid? Do you really need money to start?
A quick look at some of the biggest business successes on the planet will show you that most of them invariably began from humble beginnings. They started off small and slowly built their way up.
In the same vein, nothing is stopping you from starting off small and climbing the ladder of business success. It’s resourcefulness and not resources that you need.
Do not count yourself out just because you lack the finances. Rest assured that enthusiasm, confidence, passion and hard work will help you find the resources you need, and you’ll be able to employ them to forward your business.
And when you do start to see some financial reward, don’t take it and spend it! During the early stages of your business it pays to put it back into the business, whether that be with outsourcing the stuff you don’t like or can’t do, or investing in tools that can move your business forward quickly.
Following Instead Of Leading
The world loves a winner and tends to put them up on pedestals. The media gives them coverage. Books are written about them and so on.
Parents, teachers, etc. often tell us to model successful people and read biographies. The goal is to be like these larger-than-life people who define the epitome of success.
Millions of people dream of being the next Michael Jordan or the next Elon Musk. Or the next pop star… and so on.
And yet, if you asked Michael Jordan who he wanted to be, he’d most probably say that he wanted to be Michael Jordan.
Herein lies a contradiction – the leaders of the world (whichever field they may be in) are almost always trailblazers who march to the beat of their own drum.
They’re so focused on being the best they can be that they don’t have time to try and be like someone else.
Using a role model to inspire you is a start… but if you want to truly see success, you’ll need to lead rather than follow. You’ll need to put yourself in the limelight and be willing to be seen by the masses, rather than quietly skulking in the shadows.
You’ll get the accolades and recognition, but you’ll also get brickbats and hate. This is par for the course. Just remember, leaders lead. You must lead if you want massive success.
Now I know that many people reading this will not want to become leaders, but if you truly want to succeed at the highest level, you simply MUST step up and become a leader in your niche.
Expecting Overnight Success
A lack of patience has sounded the death knell on more goals/dreams than any other cause.
The current society we live in encourages impatience.
Instant notifications, text messaging, microwaves, instant meals, entire 22-episode seasons of Netflix shows presented all at once, etc. have made us believe that anything can be had fast.
We want results and we want them now. Preferably yesterday.
Life, however, has quite a different set up. Any worthy goal will take you time to achieve. Usually, it will take you longer than you believe. SO, you must have patience, lots of patience!
Like Jeff Bezos said, “All overnight success takes about 10 years.”
You can’t shrink the journey to fit into a 90-minute Hollywood movie. There is no rousing soundtrack to inspire you. Success is an ugly, dirty fight where you’ll have to claw your way to the top.
It has ALWAYS been that way.
So, if you start on an entrepreneurial journey and are expecting overnight riches without struggle, you’ll be in for a rude shock. It’s just a matter of time before you discover pitfalls, hurdles, pain, struggles and a myriad of other problems that you’ll need to constantly overcome.
You may wonder, “Why is this happening to me? Why is it so hard?”
The truth is that it doesn’t just happen to you. It happens to every entrepreneur who wishes to level up. This is the turbulence you need to get past until you reach cruising altitude.
And it will take you time. So, if you lack patience, it’s time to tell yourself that you’re in for the long haul.
Try breaking down what you want into smaller chunks. Not only does this make your chances of success much more achievable, it also allows you to have some quick wins along the way which can satiate the desire for instant gratification that plagues so many of us nowadays.
Now that you’re aware of these 3 negative beliefs, you can take steps to fix them and be on your way to success.
Whatever you want in life will require discipline to achieve and overcoming negative thoughts and self doubt is a small part of this. So, if you want to know more about harnessing the power of self-discipline, then check out the featured resource below for a free report; download, read it and take action 🙂
Learn How To Drown Out Your Negative Thoughts
Learn How To Drown Out Your Negative Thoughts
Negative thoughts are the nemesis of creating a successful business – and life – for yourself. It’s difficult to drown out the thoughts that corrupt your thinking and prevent the flow of energy to make yourself better, but there are some ways to calm a racing mind and stop the flow of negativity that threatens to bring you down.
Perhaps you just need some quiet time – time for yourself to ruminate on the positive things you’ve accomplished. Meditation is one way to achieve the quiet time you need to get your thoughts under control.
Whether you meditate in the forest, next to a babbling brook or in a quiet place in your home with the television and other devices turned off, the quiet you’ve created can be a catalyst for more creative and positive thought patterns.
When you’re meditating, you may want to try positive affirmations as a way to quiet your brain and push out negative thoughts and feelings.
An affirmation can be as simple as repeating to yourself that you’re stronger than all of the negative thoughts that come your way and that you can and will overcome them.
Journaling is also a good way to get your negative thoughts out of your mind, onto pen and paper and see them for what they are.
Journaling lets you get and keep in touch with your deeper inner self and create an awareness that you haven’t experienced before.
It’s a fact that writing is an exercise that seems to reinforce and help you understand things better than typing or even speaking. Journaling helps you work out problems that may have cluttered your thinking in the past.
Reinforcing the positive messages you receive from yourself or others is an important and viable way to drown out negative thoughts.
The above methods of affirmations, meditation and journaling are valuable tools to ensure that negative thoughts and feelings don’t remain in your life and that you can continue progressing to a more positive inner state of mind.
When weeding negative thoughts out of your life, make sure you surround yourself with positive people whenever you can.
It’s easy to be influenced by people who always spout negativity and seem to want everyone around them to feel the same way.
Of course, it’s impossible to feel upbeat all the time. Life is sure to get you down once in a while. But find a way that works for you to silence the negativity and stop being so hard on yourself.
Free Yourself From The Exhausting Task Of Self Doubt
The fallout from self doubt can be devastating and render you incapable of continuing to make rational business decisions. It’s like flailing yourself with a whip day in and day out – a torture so blistering that all you can think of the pain it’s causing.
When you let the exhausting task of doubting yourself take over your life, you’ll be less likely to seize opportunities and have a more difficult time in beginning or finishing tasks that could bring you success.
Moving forward can be difficult as the voice of self doubt becomes louder and drowns out the reality of who you are and what you’re capable of.
Standing up to the chatter and telling the chaos and loudness to stop can help you break the destructive pattern of low self esteem.
It’s like turning the flame down under a pot of soup that’s about to boil over. You take over control of your thoughts rather than letting your mind overflow with doubt and take those thoughts where you want to go.
Remember past times that you’ve doubted yourself and your self worth or that fear that kept you from taking part in a venture that turned successful. You likely ignored your instinct and gave in to the negative voices in your mind that told you it wouldn’t work.
This time could be different if you don’t allow the voices to take control. Each time you leave your comfort zone and ignore the self doubt torture, you come closer to realizing a positive outcome to your efforts.
Self confidence will replace self doubt and you’ll finally be able to focus on your future success rather than past failures. Silencing the exhausting torture of self doubt will also boost your optimism about the future.
You’ll become more confident about your abilities and motivated and enthused about your ideas. Take action even though you don’t feel like it.
Freeing yourself from the loud and destructive self doubt voices – if only for a few minutes – can calm the voices and help your mind find clarity and creativity.
You can always tweak the immediate actions you take later on. The real task of the moment is to get feedback, knowledge and experience so you can build your self-esteem and empower yourself to success.
Conquering self doubt frees you to stay on the course and reach the goals you’ve planned for yourself. Don’t let the voices of self doubt exhaust you to the point of abandoning your future success.
Start Small To Take Away The Power Of Self Doubt
Beginning an Internet marketing business with a product launch that’s much less expensive than some of your successful colleagues (who love to post their earnings from one launch that would pay your bills for months) can help alleviate some of your self-doubt.
Starting on a small scale – perhaps a $7 product instead of a $97 one – can mean less work to get it off and running and a launch that can teach you a thing or two.
The feedback and knowledge you get from beginning with a small launch is invaluable to help you move up to higher ticket items.
You’ll likely build your list with each small launch, too – meaning that when you do get to the big ticket launches, you’ll have more marketers who will buy from you. With each small launch, your self-confidence will build and self doubt will begin to wane and destroy your lack of confidence; you will feel empowered.
Even the small launches may fail, but that’s a good thing, too – when you use the knowledge you gained to set your focus on something else or to use another strategy because the current one isn’t working.
You won’t have lost much time and energy if you discover these truths from a small launch. Self doubt is often made up from failures of the past, but your small successes can provide positive thoughts about the positive outcomes you’ve realized.
The positive feedback you receive from small successes may serve to set you up for huge success. There’s always something new to learn in Internet marketing.
Beginning your business or venturing out in a different direction in small increments helps you sharpen your skills and become more confident in future business situations.
You’ll soon discover if something works – or not – and can quickly tweak or discard it at your discretion. Little will be lost if you haven’t invested a great deal in something you lack knowledge about.
Correcting your course along the way is the same thing pilots do when they’re approaching a bit of unexpected bad weather before reaching their destination.
Look at the charts again, learn from the experience you’ve gathered during the small ventures and correct your course so that you’re firmly on a safe and steady path again.
Learn from other marketers. Follow the business path of others to possibly discover more ways you can promote yourself and become successful with your own enterprise.
It’s sometimes easy to get lost in your own little world of strategizing and promoting, but you may become stagnant if you don’t allot some time for learning from others.
Trust your instinct and values when making decisions about your business. There are many shady marketers out there who might turn your head with promises of fast money, but if you stay true to your own values, self-confidence will become the antidote to any self doubt you may have.
Whatever you want in life will require discipline to achieve and overcoming negative thoughts and self doubt is a small part of this. So, if you want to know more about harnessing the power of self-discipline, then check out the featured resource below for a free report; download, read it and take action 🙂
