How many times do you think Thomas Edison failed in his attempt to bring light into our lives by inventing the lightbulb? Likely, he failed more times than we can count. Imagine how he felt when he worked so hard (during daylight hours or by candlelight) to find something that worked, came so close each time – and then failed with each attempt.
Then, finally it happened. One path Edison took led to the invention of the lightbulb and all other attempts were forgotten. We’ve been bathed in iridescence ever since. Edison and other successful entrepreneurs have all suffered from self doubt but trudged on through the lack of confidence to make their dream a reality.
Think about the times in the past (even as a child) that you’ve persevered through disabling doubts that you could do something, only to find out that it wasn’t within your grasp even though you gave it your all.
Either you shrugged and went on to something else or withered away in self-pity that prevented you from possible future successes. Virtually every successful person in the world has failed many times before.
Rather than wasting time stewing over each failure and making yourself miserable, make a firm decision to move on – and then do it. Begin on the new project immediately by setting short and long-term goals and really dig deep into how you’re going to ensure it’s a big success.
Each success will spur you on to the next project – and the next, until you have some firm accomplishments under your belt. Next time a failure happens, you can focus on the successes you’ve had to break the cycle of self-doubt and begin again.
Before you begin a project or new venture, think about all of the possible scenarios that can happen. Make sure you include the worst-case scenarios along with the rewards that will happen when you succeed.
After you face your fears of “what if,” you can use those fears as challenges. Looking at fears as challenges rather than obstacles can only help boost your self-confidence and help you begin to see success in your future rather than failure.
Most of us don’t think of failures as opportunities – but successful entrepreneurs know the secret to turning the knowledge learned in a failure into opportunities for growth and success.
Kids learn about winners and losers at an early age and may be taunted when playing sports or about the dismal results of a test. Some take the “loser” label and define their future self worth with it and are reluctant to take risks, while others become more determined to show everyone that they can win.
We hate the way failure makes us feel, but when we realize it’s not the end of the road and we have time to come back as a success, failure can actually be a learning experience.
What you learn from failure is invaluable to your future success. A close analysis of what went wrong with the failed idea or venture can help you make sense of the situation and learn lessons that will make you a true winner.
Every failure can be turned into a unique opportunity to grow and learn – and every success might be detrimental to future successes. It’s a contradiction that’s difficult to understand unless you’ve experienced both the opportunities in failure and the dangers in success.
Being honest with yourself is the first step in turning failures into opportunities and learning experiences. Blaming failure on others or making excuses can only serve to dig you further into a state of denial.
When that happens, you don’t learn anything. If you don’t use your failures to find flaws in your thinking or how you managed a product or venture you’re likely doomed to failure.
Learning from past mistakes is a trait that every successful person on this planet has profited from. Remember, that every failure you experience shows that you tried. If you never fail at anything, chances are you’re not trying hard enough to succeed.
While none of us seek to fail, the process of life and how it works condemns us to some failures along the way. Your success will come when you seek to learn how you failed and figure out what you’re going to do next time to ensure success.
Some of us tend to doubt ourselves right out of future success with “what if” predictions we make. It could be named the “what if” syndrome. It’s when you’re mired in self doubt so much that you begin to imagine and predict obstacles and outcomes that aren’t even there.
The “what if” syndrome is especially prevalent after you’ve hatched up a brilliant idea for an online project that’s going to make you lots of money and help your fellow entrepreneurs.
You’re sure everyone will love it and want it. Then, self-doubt sets in and you begin to think of all of the reasons why it won’t succeed. You walk on the shadowy side of your ability to make things happen and talk yourself down or out of even trying.
You were so excited about the idea at first and it fired up your creativity to a point where you could hardly wait to begin. That lull – somewhere between the excitement of the idea and taking action to make it happen – is where self doubt takes root.
You may begin to think of past failures and how they made you feel or become highly sensitive to the fact that you’ve never endeavored something like this before. If you keep thinking about past failures or what “might” happen, you may come to a point in the project where a big wall is placed in your path.
Or – you can take another route – one that doesn’t ensure success, but that at least gives you a chance. Rather than giving in to self doubt, trust yourself and try it again. You’ve likely practiced this scenario many times before in your life.
Some attempts may have failed, but you’ve probably succeeded many more times. Bring a new attitude into the mix and think positively rather than giving in to the hauntings of past failures. Also, bring in positive people to surround you who encourage, rather than discourage you.
Don’t compare yourself to others whose successes may be greater or more profitable than yours. You may even learn from their stories of success. They’re bound to have had failures along the way – and overcame them rather than feeling defeated.
When you find yourself become mired in self doubt about your future success, mute the negative voices by focusing on the positive and living in the present moment rather than projecting yourself into a future of unknowns.
Whatever you want in life will require discipline to achieve and being able to reframe failure 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 🙂
“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.
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…
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 🙂
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 🙂
You may know for sure that you have the knowledge and experience to succeed, but there still may be nagging doubts that you can’t or won’t succeed online. These doubts can be confused with low self esteem, but they’re very different in how they factor in to results and are a sign of a lack of self confidence.
When you have high self esteem, you feel good about yourself. You may be physically fit, very intelligent or are known for being a hard worker who gets the job done. Self doubt may creep in when you’re faced with something new or different such as an online marketing business.
Even those who have been in the business long enough to have gathered a reputation of success can have doubts about their abilities to bring their businesses to the next level of success.
There’s always something new to learn and you must be ready and willing to put the time and effort behind your ideas. Self esteem comes from positive self-talk that brands you as a person you can believe in to achieve the outcome you want. This results in confidence and self respect.
That’s the only way you’ll ever gain the experience you need to reach the business goals you’ve set for yourself. You’ll gain confidence as you progress through the smaller goals to reach the larger ones, and this will boost your self esteem and push the lack of confidence and self doubt into the background.
Self esteem is knowing your capabilities and self doubt only sets up obstacles for you to overcome to reach your goals. A little bit of both (self doubt and self esteem) is natural and can be good for you if viewed in the right way.
Your self esteem can push aside self doubt when it threatens to paralyze you and ruin your plans for the future. After all, you’ve succeeded with many things in the past and can do it again.
Reach back into your mind and remember the successes you’ve had in the past. If you’re new to Internet marketing, you may have to remember successes in other areas of your life, but as you overcome the self doubts associated with marketing, you’ll be able to feel good about yourself in that area, too.
Your self esteem will carry you far in life. The self doubt you may feel when starting a new business can be put to rest by taking action and gaining valuable experience that silences any questions about what you’re capable of.
Self doubt can creep into your psyche without you even suspecting it’s there until the first niggling thought makes itself clear. You must be aware of your thoughts and how you’re always reacting to weed them out before they grow and take over your creativity and destroy your goals.
Doubts can run wild in your mind, making you question your abilities about anything new or different. If you’re prepared, you can recognize the doubts for the lies they are and let your knowledge and common sense get you through.
When you check in to reality you’ll realize that the negative thoughts are occurring for various reasons. For example, you could be lost in comparing yourself with others in marketing.
It may make you feel inadequate and doubt your ability to succeed. Make a firm decision and stick to it. When self doubt about what you’re trying to accomplish creeps into your thoughts, decide to either carry through with your goal or trash it and go on with something else you’re more certain of.
Making a fast decision may seem impulsive, but most likely the decision is based on intuition and the knowledge that you’ve prepared enough for the journey ahead. You can always fine tune your plan as you progress.
At least you’re taking action toward your goals. Replace negative self doubt with positive thoughts. Choose any method that works for you. Meditation, journaling, affirmations, listening to music or reading a good book or simply chatting with positive-minded friends may give you the boost you need to move on.
All of us find ourselves dealing with self doubt at some point in our lives. If you let it get the best of you by feeding into it and believing the lies you’re telling yourself, it can destroy even the best of intentions for success.
Learn to recognize and weed out the crippling, negative thoughts and get on with achieving the goals you’ve set for yourself. Begin the learning process by becoming aware of your thoughts – check in with them a few times a day. You’ll soon be able to discern the “keeper” thoughts from the “discard” pile.
Being humble has always been a hallmark for kindness and esteem. But you can be humble while still giving yourself credit for your accomplishments. When you’re proud about what you’ve done, the building blocks of self esteem become tighter and tighter and eventually, you learn to trust yourself and your decisions.
As an online entrepreneur, patting yourself on the back is a required trait. Every success that’s passed on to others will make them sit up and notice you – and respect you for your hard work.
If you can’t toot your own horn, it’s going to be difficult for others to know what you’ve accomplished – especially in an online environment. And don’t simply give yourself credit for professional achievements – personal achievements are important, too.
You may have lost weight over a period of time or achieved another personal goal that you’re proud of. Those are triumphs that are brag-worthy. While you don’t have to talk about yourself and your achievements until people are bored, it’s okay to use it as a way to motivate others – and yourself.
Even a day off spent with family or getting something for yourself that you’ve always wanted can be perfect. When you reward yourself, you’re reinforcing your self esteem building and making it easier to move on to the next project.
Online entrepreneurs seem to have a problem with defining themselves as worthy and successful. Instead, they think about failures rather than successes and avoid telling their fellow marketers and lists that they’re proud of what they’ve done.
When you praise yourself and what you’ve accomplished to other online marketers and customers, they’re likely to begin conversations and want to know how you did it – and be genuinely proud of your triumph.
Giving yourself credit for accomplishments can open a whole new world of feeling good about yourself. And when you feel good about yourself, the world becomes your oyster, and you can make your dreams and goals come true because you aren’t telling yourself that you can’t.
Gandhi once admonished people to, “Be the change you want to see in the world.” When you change for the better or have little or big successes that you’re proud of, let the world know. You could become an inspiration for others!
Self esteem 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 🙂
