Approaching one month at WA, some thoughts I've had in that time.

(Sorry this is quite long, didn't even realise how long until I got to the end.)

As I'm approaching the completion of my first month here at Wealthy Affiliate I just wanted put something out into the community. I wasn't intending to do anything like this (mainly due to the fear of no one wanting to read it haha) or at the very least not do a blog post here until I was successful. As in my mind no one would want to hear from someone who hasn't accomplished anything here yet, ignoring that people might actually want to hear the story as it progresses.

Making the decision to blog here as I go along provides two very important reasons for me to do it. One is people might find some motivation in seeing any potential progress I make, and secondly, it gives me some accountability and motivation myself. If I see people are interested in my story and my journey it gives me additional belief and motivation to keep going and that I can succeed. So here I am, standing at the bottom of the summit starting my ascent.

Throughout my life I've always been a perfectionist, expecting to be a master of something even if I've had little training or are a complete beginner. I'd jump up in the air, use that tenth of a second in the air as proof I can fly and head off to the nearest cliff to prepare for an adventure. I'd be giddy in anticipation, using my newfound ability to fly over the ocean and explore new lands that awaited me. Only to act surprised that upon throwing myself off that cliff, that I actually could not fly, and instead faced a very scary 100ft drop to the bottom.

The constant failing to achieve these very big goals led me to into the depths of self-doubt, lack of confidence and to an extent a victim mentality. But only recently after completing a couch to 5k program did the very simple answer hit me, small steps reach big goals. Sounds stupid I know, but I was very sporty growing up so my natural instinct is to assume I can run 5k no problem, even if I hadn't ran for over three years.

The couch to 5k program plus the training program here at Wealthy Affiliate have shown me that you can make great strides in small steps. But I and maybe others here as well will still have this nagging doubt, can we really achieve everything we want to here? First things first I need to genuinely believe I can do this, I need a way to overcome that constant nagging self-doubt and lack of confidence in myself as a result of previous failures.

My answer to this is I need to change my mindset, I need to celebrate small steps, see them as victories to forge a winning mentality, even create a mantra. And with that will come an increasing belief that I can achieve anything I set my mind to. It will take time, years of failing and asking myself why can't I do this or that will bury itself deep in our psyche and becomes part of our identity. After years of berating myself over the smallest things and telling myself I'm useless, I need to do the reverse. Finish this blog post "hell yeah good job james", release two articles this week "see, I knew you could do it", be kind to myself for a change.

A big fear that myself and a lot of newcomers will have is "how can I succeed when there's already so much competition in my niche?". While there are indeed millions of sites out there in every niche you can think of I'd like to ask you a question if I may.

So everyone has to go grocery shopping don't they, in the city or town that you live how many different supermarket brands are there? Two? Three? More?

I take it you have a favourite so why is the one you go to regularly your favourite? Is it the closest to you? Are they cheaper than other competitors? Do they stock one item that you love that other supermarkets don't sell?

My point is there will be many different reasons as to why one person prefers one supermarket over another even though they are largely the same. There may be many sites in your niche but there can be many factors as to why people searching online might prefer your site over others.

It could be the way you write that resonates with people and draws them to you, it could be the way your site is set up. It could be people see a genuineness in what you are doing, like supermarkets it could be anything and the reason could be very simple.

Given enough time you will find your people, look at real life, the people who are now your best friends, how did they become that? People tend to join various clubs and activities to find like-minded people and sometimes that's where you find the people who get you, because you share the same passions. Same in the online world, people with the same interests as your niche will be drawn to your page. And those who resonate with the way you and your site are will stick around and keep reading the articles you put out.

I think I'll leave it there ("thank god" I hear you say haha), sorry for the long post but thanks for reading.

James