The One Obstacle to Making Money Online
Overcoming This is the Key to Making Money on the Internet
The one thing that will keep you from achieving your goals is fear. Most of us really don't like to admit this, but it's true.
I was inspired to write this post after reading yet another stellar post from Brian Clark of Copyblogger.
His article looked at how fear affects writers and described it as that "nasty four-letter word that keeps you from writing." Brian observed that fear lurks behind the scenes and often operates at the subconscious level.
Most of the excuses we make for not writing can be traced back to fear, especially the two main obstacles that writers commonly face: procrastination and writer's block.
Brian's post examined different types of fear, how they can affect you as a writer, and provided very useful tips on overcoming it.
After reading his article I began thinking about how fear affects us not only in our efforts as internet marketers and bloggers, but also in our entire lives.
Most Fear is Irrational
It occurred to me that fear is most often totally irrational.
Fearing what others may think of us or that we are not "good" enough are just tricks that your mind play on you to get you to avoid doing things.
You Are Not What You Do
Brian makes a good point by saying that we must separate our actions from ourselves.
For example, just because you wrote a boring post or started a business that didn't pan out doesn't make you a bad person.
It also doesn't mean that people will reject you or won't like you.
Identify Your Fears and Challenge Them
The bottom line is this: fear is usually just in your mind.
When you find yourself unable to do something or procrastinating, take a step back and examine your thoughts.
Find out what you are afraid of. Then, note these fears and debate them. Shoot them down.
If you find that you are putting off writing an ebook because you are afraid of rejection, ask yourself questions like these:
- do I know for certain that my ebook will not be liked?
- just because some people won't like my ebook, does that mean I'm a bad person?
- will writing this ebook threaten my life?
- will writing this ebook serve no purpose to me at all?
As you can see, by asking these questions and answering a resounding "no" to each, you will come to realize that your fear is unfounded.
Take Action: Just Do It!
Then you can get around to the most important part of overcoming fear: simply taking action.
It may be really scary at first, but by just taking that first step, it gets easier and easier. And soon you may even come to really enjoy that which you were so ardently avoiding.
I had this experience a few years ago when I went skiing for the first time in almost 30 years (I'm really dating myself here). I was terrified at first but I forced myself to do it, kept at it, and now I really love it!
Fear can be absolutely paralyzing. Learn to identify it, debate it, and take action in spite of it.
Don't worry abut the results. Just engage yourself, overcome your fears, and the results will look after themselves.
As Brian Clark so aptly said, "Remember, courage is not the absence of fear, it’s doing what needs to be done despite fear."
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April 10th, 2008 at 3:48 pm
[...] This often means facing your fears. Fear is the one obstacle to making money online. [...]