I think I’ve been fooling myself about something.
Or as my dad used to say, “Once I thought I made a mistake, but I was wrong”. 😛
Ever since I’ve been on this journey of trying to make money online (oh, have I mentioned that before? I’m gonna need to do an asterix * so that you look at the bottom of this post for that explanation) I have struggled to take consistent action. And consistent action is the ONE THING that entrepreneurs go on and on AND ON about. Consistent action; or sometimes they say ‘massive action’. Either way, the point is that you need to take ACTION to achieve the things that you want in life. Especially in business.
My ‘action’ history involves starting more blogs than I care to ever remember. Review sites, niche sites, local business sites, affiliate sites, this list goes on. And I made a few sales doing that too. Maybe $1000 in about six months or so.
But everything I’ve started has always fizzled out. There’s a couple of reasons that happened, but the main reason is that it’s really hard to keep writing about stuff that you don’t really care about; like memory courses, ebooks on getting rid of gophers (I kid you not!), creatine supplements, SEO services, carpet cleaners, dentists, real estate brokers and so much more.
How do you keep doing the boring stuff like that?
But then, I started this blog, and this is a topic that I love writing about. When I get on a roll the words just flow out of me. This stuff I write about is really important to me. I want to conquer my fears, build good habits, be brave and confident and all those things, because I think it’s those things that will lead me to a life I love; a life full of adventure, travel, love and fulfilment. So I couldn’t figure out why I was struggling to sit down and do anything on this blog. I felt an aversion to it. I would sit at my computer to write, or do something like get the social media button sorted out, or even set up the ‘Contact’ page; things that are very simple and (to me) enjoyable. But I just couldn’t make myself do it. The best way I can describe how I felt, is that I felt like I was doing something ‘icky’. And now I think I know the reason why I felt like that…
Afraid of Success? You’re kidding me, right?
I’ve heard the term ‘Afraid of Success’ bandied about before, and I never really knew what that meant. Still not sure I do, actually.
Who is afraid of success? Who’s afraid of having money, or getting recognition, or being proud of your achievements, or having a skill that you can now sell for more money? Who’s afraid of success? I certainly AM NOT.
But…
I think I’ve finally realised what they mean. It’s not that a person is afraid of success, it’s that they’re afraid of the things that will change if/when they have success.
Here’s an example of what I mean:
If my blog was to be successful that would mean that people in my life would have a greater chance of finding and reading it; and discovering just how un-successful I really am. I’m afraid of that.
If my blog was to be successful that would mean that I could monetise it and (hopefully, over time) use it as a launching pad to other things. Which would mean I wouldn’t need my job… something that I gain some measure of pride from. I don’t know what I would then be known as. I’m afraid of that.
If my blog was to be successful that would mean that people actually enjoy my writing and they would then look forward to my next piece of writing. That just plain freaks me out.
So yeah, I get it now. Maybe I AM afraid of success.
At this point in my career/life/blog, I have no words of wisdom or encouragement on that point. (Sorry) So here’s a picture with a quote on it that is somehow meant to inspire us all. :-/
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* So here’s the back story: Years ago, my husband introduced me to the world of make-money-online. There are so many people making decent cash in a myriad of different ways, online. At first I thought it was just people selling their used stuff on ebay, or developing some awesome new shopping website, or a mom-blogger who turned a newsy blog into one of the most visited (and huge) websites in the world. But I then found out that there are people making income from affiliate sales, where someone clicks on a link that has your affiliate code embedded in it, and you get a small commission when they buy (at no extra cost to the consumer).
There are so many ways that people make money online. And they’re all legit, by the way. We all know there’s plenty of spammy scammers in the online world, but all the ways that we looked at making money online were totally legal (and moral!)
We’ve been ‘trying’ to make money online for YEARS. Spent, literally, tens of thousands of dollars on training courses, products, tools, coaching, systems, advertising and traffic; but nothing has worked for us.
Disclaimer: I believe wholeheartedly that it was not the products or systems that we bought that were faulty. It was us. We never stuck at anything for long enough. We hit roadblocks and gave up. When it was too hard, or too boring or too technical; we gave up. We looked for the next bright, shiny thing, hoping that it would ‘set us free’ with just a couple of hours work. Dumb aye.
But now, I am finally listening to ALL the successful ones who say time and time again: you must work on your mindset first. Get your thinking right first, so that all the rest of your life may fall into line with your mindset.
And so I started a blog. A place to log my journey, record my learnings and be accountable for challenges I set myself.
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