What is the most demoralizing statement in the English language? A lot of people will say it’s no, another couple might say it’s I don’t like you. But to me, the worst possible thing to say is I can’t. Now I’m not going to sit here and tell you to scrap that from your vocabulary like I’m Yoda or anything, but I will tell you that every time I say or hear this my brain contorts like I just ate 35 warheads. The only thing that’s stopping you from being who you want to be is yourself. Obvious? Yes, of course. You’ve heard this a million times and I’m not going to make it a million and one (wait, I guess I technically already did…oh well). We know what we have to do to be the next viral sensation or the next superstar athlete but we can’t convert those thoughts into actions. Why can’t we become a master?
It’s too hard
Everything in life is hard until you practice it and master it. Talking was hard when you were first learning how and now look at yourself; you’re a conversational wizard [Harry]! This might be the dumbest reasoning behind not doing something. If it’s too hard then you aren’t working hard enough. Go out and practice whatever craft it might be and master it. It’s not rocket science; it’s just practice and patience.
I’m not smart enough
Perhaps you flunked a few classes in high school or you didn’t beat out your colleague for the great project idea. You then begin to fill your head with all the reasons why others are smarter than you. I could just tell you to study harder and longer but that’s a bit overplayed and cliché. Instead, I’ll just give you one word on how to become more knowledgeable than anyone in the room: Google. Yes, that little search engine that could out in beautiful California is your one stop shop for anything. Google has everything you could possibly be looking for. Sit on the computer for a couple hours a day and you will become a master. Who needs college when you have Google? (Sorry, Bing I just don’t use you)
It’s already been done
If no one did anything twice, then we would be missing out on a lot as a human race. Imagine if we only had one of everything in this world, yeah, that would be pretty boring. The saying records are meant to be broken can be applied here. Everything out there is there for a reason, to be beat! If you don’t know who is in first place then how will you get there? When it comes down to it, it’s all about appeal. Us humans want what we know and believe in, and it’s up to us to make that happen. Don’t sit around moping because the idea has already been thought of, open up Google and find out how you can make yours better.
Over thinking
I’m guilty of this myself; I’ll sit on something and not act on it only to see it be done 2 days later. Not to say any of these were huge but they have made a little bit of a splash. If you over think something then you’re basically saying you don’t believe in yourself. If you have to sit there and question whether or not you should take the risk, then you’ve already lost. If you have ideas, put them into motion & make the first call to get the ball rolling. Don’t second guess yourself and come up with reasons not to do it, that’s just a fancy way of saying I can’t. Think about things once and do it. If it works great, if it doesn’t, figure out why and revamp it so it will.
I don’t have money
Money is always a bit touchy feely and people can react differently to this subject. People feel they need that sense of security and are afraid to spend it – I get it, no judgment.
However, there are millions of jobs out there and no matter what level of experience you have; someone is looking for someone just like you. All you have to do is look for it. Market yourself more, engage in social media and find who out there needs you. Money will come; you just have to put in the time of day.
___ say's it won’t work
Whether it’s your parents, your colleagues, your superiors, or whoever it may be, there’s always going to be someone out there who doesn’t believe in you, or as we call them today The Haters. You need to whip out your hater blockers and don’t look or pay attention to them. They have no impact on what you are/aren’t capable of. If they don’t want to support you, that’s their own business, but it’s no reason for you to feel differently about what you’re doing. The only boss you have is yourself and only yourself can be the one to judge.
I need a break
No, you really don’t. You’re never done doing anything. You think the brightest minds in the world ever took a break? I don’t see Zuckerberg or Gates slowing down. While you’re taking the week off someone else isn’t, and that someone is moving ahead of you. “I made my first sale after 3 months of hard work! Now I’m going to take a break to relax”. What?? Your craft is only as good as you make it, and if you take time off to “relax” then you won’t go as far as you’re capable of. Why would you want to stop after your first big accomplishment? You need to work off of this energy, find out what you did to make it happen and do it again!
How can I compete?
There’s only one way to find out. If you don’t let yourself answer that question then you’ll never know. You’ll never know if your idea was truly better or if people wanted your product instead. If you stop yourself after thinking this then you’re just going to go all the way back to step 1 and do it all over again. Don’t worry about competing; you haven’t even done anything yet. Wait to see how the world reacts and then worry about the competition. Right now you’re only competing against yourself, and it’s up to you to win.
I don’t have the time
Please, you have the time. You just took time out of your day to read this blog. That same time could have been spent working. You always have time; you have more than enough time. The days keep coming and time keeps turning and it’s your call on how you’ll use it. Get up, get to work and start changing your thought process.