It’s really easy to let doubt overtake you.
You see all these huge, popular websites like ProBlogger and you think: “I’m small.”
You hear success stories like those of my friend Bryan Harris, who recently launched an online course that brought in $220,750 in 10 days, and you mutter: “I’m barely making peanuts.”
You read the “need to be an established authority” writing guidelines for sites like Michael Stelzner’s excellent Social Media Examiner and you sigh to yourself: “But I’m a nobody.”
Why do we do this?
We’ll compare ourselves to the elites in our industry, and inevitably we’ll come up short.
Instead of focusing on how far we’ve come, we focus on how far we still have to go. Instead of focusing on the positives, we’re focusing on the negatives.
Instead of looking at the glass as half full, we’re looking at a half-empty glass that could fall off the table, shatter into dozens of sharp pieces, and cut the bottoms of our feet.
It’s a recipe for melancholy. And the crazy thing?
We’ve all been there.
Those bloggers, business owners, and entrepreneurs we admire? There was a time when they were just starting out, too.
ProBlogger was once a hobby for Darren Rowse before becoming a part-time job, then a full-time job, then a full-fledged business.
Before his product launch turned him into the guy everyone asks for $20 loans, Bryan Harris was a working stiff just like you and me. Three years ago he read an article by Tim Ferriss that started him on a new path, and the rest is history.
Even Michael Stelzner started from humble beginnings.
When Social Media Examiner started, he didn’t know anyone in the industry. So, he reached out to his contacts who did know a thing or two and asked them, “Who do you know that I should interview?”
Then he went out and interviewed those people.
Next time you’re discouraged and filled with doubt, go research an influencer’s origin story.
Check out how Jon Morrow and Seth Godin got their starts.
Look up how Jeff Goins and Brian Dean struggled before hitting the big time.
Read how John Lee Dumas endured the drudgery of the hamster wheel before founding Entrepreneur On Fire.
Their success shouldn’t discourage you. It shouldn’t intimidate you. It shouldn’t make you feel inadequate.
It should inspire you.
Creative Commons Image via Beshef.
