Fear #2: What if I’m not an expert?
How many of us feel like imposters?
What if I don’t have the right credential? What if she has more experience than me? I didn’t go to the right college.
Imposter Syndrome is real, and it is crippling. So many of us waste our time chasing mythical credentials, waiting for the right day when we suddenly have a certificate from some random organization giving us permission to go out in the world and do what we’re here to do. And then what? Suddenly we find…uh oh, that degree didn’t matter as much as we thought. Now what are we supposed to do?
Don’t get me wrong. I’m a huge fan of education — not only did I study under some of the world’s best professors at Stanford, I continue to invest in my own education every day. But this idea that we all need more “experience” or “credentials” for EVERYTHING is just plain wrong. Take this email I got from a reader, Tom S., recently:
Notice how ANGRY he is. He’s outraged that I would DARE try to help anyone without the right credentials. This is an outdated way of thinking. Let me be blunt:
- I’m not a CFP, but because of my online business, I’ve helped more people with their money than most CFPs ever will
- I’m not a “certified career counselor,” but I’ve helped more people find Dream Jobs, and negotiate their salaries than almost any of them will (like these Dream Job success stories)
STOP THINKING YOU HAVE TO WAIT FOR PERMISSION!
WE DON’T HAVE TO WAIT FOR A GATEKEEPER TO RECOGNIZE US ANY MORE! This old idea of laboring for 30 years, waiting for some fancy Manhattan TV producer or agent to call us, and then “we’ll be successful” is archaic and wrong.
The most amazing thing is with a few simple tools — a website, an email list, and a little know-how about how to build an online business — you can sidestep them ENTIRELY and go straight to the people who want to hear from you!
There’s a TV network I know. They treat all of their guests horribly. They reschedule you over and over and act like they’re doing you a favor if they allow you the grace of appearing on their show.
Last time they called, I realized I’d rather write an amazing post for you than spend 4 hours preparing, traveling, and recording for a 1.5-minute segment. I told them, “I really appreciate the invitation, but I’m going to pass. Thank you again.” They were flabbergasted.
When you sidestep the gatekeepers and go direct, you have OPTIONS. If you want to start an online business and spend 5 hours/week to make a couple thousand bucks a month, great! If you want to go ALL IN and aim for 6 figures/year — or even $1,000,000+/year — I can show you how.
I don’t want to play in a world where I have to kiss these gatekeepers’ asses.
Instead, I want to play on an equal playing field. Measure me on the results I get for my students in launching an online business. If I get real results, I win. If I don’t, then I lose — and SO BE IT. I’ll take the risk on me, but I’m not going to wait 30 years for some aging producer to give me a phone call. I’ll make my own luck. Suck it, Tom.
Fear #3: “I need to figure it out first”
Like your elderly uncle who drinks too much on Superbowl Sunday and constantly talks about how he’s going to write a book once “he figures it out,” we ALL have a drinking probl–wait. No, I messed that up.
We all use “figure it out” as an excuse to TALK about what we want…but do nothing about it!
96% of IWT readers want to start an online business. How long have we been reading endless blog post after blog post, dreaming about generating automatic income?
How many Facebook photos of a friend sitting on a beach — on a Wednesday! — have we seen?
And yet, when we get the opportunity to actually start one, we do the most curious thing of all: come up with reasons it won’t work for us.
I’ve seen this time and time again when I launch a course. I’ll have readers following along with every exercise, commenting on every post, writing how excited they are to get started.
And when the course finally opens, suddenly we start second-guessing ourselves. “Will this work for me? I’m an international left-handed one-legged narcoleptic…what about THAT? Does your material address people like THAT??”
This is called Special Snowflake Syndrome, and these people will never join. They ask question after question until they find something I say no to — and then they can walk away, satisfied that “of COURSE this wouldn’t work for me.” What an interesting way to live life. To wait to “figure it out” until some day, things magically align 100% perfectly. When you have enough time, the perfect business idea, all your other priorities totally handled.
THIS NEVER HAPPENS.
Your life will never be perfect. Successful people take steps before they’re totally ready. They know that there will NEVER be a perfect time where you have nothing else on your plate. So they make time, and year after year, they invest in themselves.
No wonder when you look at a top performer, you say, “Wow, I could never do that.” Because most people never made the daily decisions he’s been making for years and years!
The great news is you’ve already been doing more than most people ever do: You read about how to improve yourself. Maybe you’ve tried a few strategies from IWT or other sites. When the chance is in front of you, will you take it?
The strategy I use to “figure it out”:
I write down ALL my invisible scripts BEFORE I have to make a decision:
- I’m uncomfortable doing ___
- I don’t have enough time
- I don’t have enough money
- Will this work for me?
- What if I fail? Then I’ll KNOW I could never do this…
And for 15 minutes, I just sit down and say, What if I were perfect? How would I answer these questions? How would I make the time? Do I really not have the money, or do I just use that as an excuse / could I make changes in my spending?
If you honestly decide an opportunity is not right for you, great! At least you did it consciously. And if it is…you’re off to the races.