Stumped - What if my best isn't good enough? Advice Please
Stumped
Iwas trying to think of a keyword post for my website for myentrepreneur training, but somehow my mind went blank.
Ithink I know what went wrong….
Selfdoubt.
Thequestions plague me like flies on your favorite dish at the familyBBQ in summer.
Whatmakes you so special? What is your brand? Why should anyone listen toyou? How can you provide value to your customers?
NowI struggle with self-doubt and how to get rid of it, any suggestions?
Thispost was supposed be about Acres of Diamonds and 3 Feet From Gold,two classics. I had planned on posting to encourage others, when thatself-doubt monster struck.
Acresof Diamonds was a parable turned into a book. Three Feet from Gold isa true story.
Asynopsis about Acres of Diamonds:
Atthe heart of “Acres of Diamonds” was a parable Conwell heardwhile traveling through present-day Iraq in 1870 and in summary itgoes like this:
Therewas once a wealthy man named Ali Hafed who lived not far from theRiver Indus. “He was contented because he was wealthy, andwealthy because he was contented.” One day a priest visitedAli Hafed and told him about diamonds.
AliHafed heard all about diamonds, how much they were worth, and went tohis bed that night a poor man. He had not lost anything, but hewas poor because he was discontented, and discontented because hefeared he was poor.
AliHafed sold his farm, left his family, and traveled to Palestine andthen to Europe searching for diamonds. He did not find them. Hishealth and his wealth failed him. Dejected, he cast himself into thesea.
Oneday, the man who had purchased Ali Hafed’s farm found a curioussparkling stone in a stream that cut through his land. It was adiamond. Digging produced more diamonds — acres of diamonds, infact. This, according to the parable, was the discovery of thefamed diamonds of Golconda.
Thepoint of the story is that we often dream of fortunes to be madeelsewhere. We ought instead to be open to the opportunities that arearound us. He illustrates this concept with several other stories,including that of the discovery of Gold in California. Another is afarmer in Pennsylvania sold his farm for $833 and went to work forhis cousin in Canada, collecting oil. Shortly after, the man whopurchased the farm found oil worth millions of dollars.
Credit:Russell H. Conwell – Acres of Diamonds
ThreeFeet from Gold Synopsis:
Inhis all-time classic book, Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill tellsthe story of R. U. Harby.
Harby’suncle had gold fever, so he staked his claim and started digging. After a lot of hard work, the uncle found a vein of ore, so hecovered up his find and returned home to raise the money for themachinery that he would need to bring the ore to the surface.
Theyraised the money and Darby traveled with his uncle back to the siteto make their fortune.
Thingsstarted well and before long, they had enough to clear their debts. They were excited, everything from here on would be profit and thingswere looking good.
Thenthe supply of gold stopped. The vein of ore had disappeared.
Theykept on digging, but found nothing.
Aftera while, they quit in frustration and sold their machinery to a junkman for a few hundred dollars.
Afterthey went home in disappointment, the astute junk man called in amining engineer who checked the mine and calculated that therewas a vein of gold just three feet from where Darby and his uncle hadstopped digging.
Thejunk man went on to make millions from the mine.
Darbyreturned home, paid back everyone who had lent him money and wasdetermined to learn from his mistake in giving up too soon.
Hewent on to become a phenomenally successful insurance salesman, morethan recouping what he would have made from the gold mine.
Helearned the lesson that you need to persevere through difficultiesand stay focused if you are to become successful.
Wheneveryou feel like giving up on your dream, remember that you may be justthree feet from gold!
Credit:Napoleon Hill-Think and Grow Rich
Whatare your thoughts? Who has wrestled with this monster and won? Whatare your thoughts? Your suggestions?
Recent Comments
22
The self doubt monster is something many of us struggle to overcome, my self included. I like your post. Never give up...not ever. With this supportive community we see self doubters turn into believers and succeed all the time. Be consistent and persist! Take the hill, you can do it!
from the replies most of us know this monster Jana.
i know i do.
but just remember where you started.
you probably knew less than you do now, and if that is your niche then you know more than your niche does.
Alex has given good advice - don't be perfect, be consistent.
you can always go back and edit or redo a post.
if you feel you don't know enough, write down your doubts and find hte information - then you do know enough.
or if you feel that way then reduce the scope of the post and write about what you do know.
the doubt monster has won at the moment with me, but the visitors are still coming to my sites and buying my recommendations and google is still ranking my posts as relevent for those searches - what does that tell you - you know your subject.
but this is where planning comes into play - you need to have at least three months of articles planned out - keywords found, outlines written.
why - because you will feel that you are not good enough, can't find that perfect keyword, have self doubt.
but if it is all planned out then you go through the motions and create the article.
afterwards you feel better for having done something.
do i need a dose of my own medecine - yes and will i follow my own advice - i need to to get back on track.
with planning this far ahead you can see where the site is going and if you don't like it, then tweak the direction to bring it back to where you want it to go.
the other thing is to have a wants board. pin up the things you are working for - new house, car , ideal life.
look at them from tim to time, have bits around the house so you see them everywhere you go and remind yourself why you are doing this.
good luck defeating this monster - or at least putting it back into its den for a while.
phil
Hi
Do not feel dejected. Your hard work will make you special. How many times have you searched for the product/s you want to buy?
Do you remember the blog on the top of the page?
Who wrote the post?
No, you might have clicked any one of the top 3. Most of the people follow the same.
Highest ranking in search engines will make you special. You are ranking high means you have created something special and people would love to read your article.
Keep on writing.
Regards
Arun
Many thanks. Your words mean a lot. It's a holiday weekend so that means I'll be getting more done on my WA site. I stay off the roads on holidays...:)
Hey there!
I love the courage you display in sharing this post. We all struggle with self-doubt in one form or another.
Though many seem endowed with tremendous self-confidence early on, a day of reckoning appears at some point.
Others of us struggle daily with esteem issues as far back as we remember.
Either way, all of us must face fears of not measuring up.
Which method prepares us best to face our challenges?
Early confidence is a wonderful suit of armor to protect us from defeat. (Strip away the armor though, and we may not be so prepared against the struggles of life as we thought).
Lifelong issues of low self-esteem force us to be in constant battle (within and without), we fall, we skin our knees, and we get up. Eventually, we acquire scar tissue that helps us ignore the pain at some level, and we endure.
Who is better prepared to overcome life's challenges? I have no definitive answer...
But...I know this... many of our struggles resemble speed bumps, others are boulders in our path, while still others seem as Mt. Everest!
Bit by bit....with patience and willpower, we can overcome all of these and savor the sweet taste of victory.
IF WE QUIT, we will never know just how close we were to finally succeed. Our treasure (goals & aspirations) is there just around the corner, or in the next shovel.
DON'T LET ANYBODY STEAL YOUR DREAMS!
Especially, not yourself!
WE GOT THIS
Regards,
Billy
Wow! Thanks. It's not constant but often enough that I have to get out my ugly stick and beat this demon over the head. :)
Great blog, and you have received sound advice, I am sure you will succeed. Have a great day, Denise.
Well you've just written 685 words on this blog and it reads well so you should have no concerns that people won't think it's good enough. Try picking out certain words and putting them into Google search and see what it 'adds' onto them or use 'Alphabet Soup' in Jaaxy.
Keep in mind that there are always people looking for information about your niche and your keyword. Don't hesitate or let yourself think that this is not going to work, this will just stop you from writing. I haven't read about anyone that was successful on this at once, so more ideas will come, meaning, more post that will rank your website. No worries, keep on writing regularly about what you like as search engines will do the rest.
I will let you in on the biggest secret of online marketing Jana.
We do not have to be the best.
All we have to do is be consistent.
Even when we don't feel like it.
Even when folks around us are falling by the wayside.
Even when no one is turning up to the show.
We just need to be consistent.
Everything else will take care of its self.
I may print this out and put I on my computer. Best advice I have seen for awhile. Thank you.
Laura
First, nobody is great at this at first. Two never say you can't all ways say you can. Three the more you do this, the better you'll get. Have faith in your self , I have faith in you; so why don't you. Mother wolf. Keep trying.
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I struggle with self-doubt every day, many times a day. What do I do? I research another keyword, write another post, help another person and keep going.
You can not give into this demon. You have to just keep going and it is like Alex said, everything else will work out.
You just keep keeping on.
Laura
Thank you. I won't give in. :)