So here you are you’ve reached the point where you decided that you want to create an online income that will help you pay your bills, get out of debt or perhaps even replace your current day job.
Before you can even get started you hesitate as you have a lot of questions and doubts that are stopping you in your tracks.
First of all, you do a quick search online for ways to make an additional income online and you become overwhelmed with all the information available.
You know it’s possible to generate some cash on the internet and you are aware that there are a number of people out there that are actually doing it now, but you are struggling with the fear of failure.
That fear stops you from moving forward. You’re afraid that if you put in the effort you could fail and find failure embarrassing.
Maybe you’ve made up your mind and overcome the fear of uncertainty and failure but you can’t figure out where to start. There is so much information out there, which is right for you? What kind of business do you want to create?
Most of all you are most afraid of being scammed. The reason you turned to the internet is to make more money and you don’t want to waste your time and money. Your time is precious so you'd rather focus on tasks that will give you the results you desire.
I think most of us can relate to all those questions. I am absolutely petrified whenever I start a project online. Even while writing this I would like to turn this post into an audio or a video, but I’m hesitating.
The truth is that we need to learn to step out of our comfort zone. These thoughts will never go away, you should just use them as fuel to motivate you towards achieving your goal or at least starting your next project.
Dealing with information overload
Because the internet is readily accessible to us we are capable of getting a mountain of information within just a few minutes. Unfortunately, all that free information can become overwhelming to the point that it becomes the reason why you cannot get started.
I’ve succumbed to this feeling on numerous occasions but I recently decided to follow a certain ideology. There is a scene in the “Matrix” where Trinity finds herself in a situation where she needs to fly a helicopter.
She doesn’t panic, instead, she calmly instructs the Operator to download that skill directly into her brain.
Now yes, I understand we’re not in the matrix but we can also do the same thing. You don’t need to worry about the things you don’t know until you reach the point where you need to learn that information.
So when you get started, don’t learn everything. Use the just-in-time ideology and learn what you need to learn only when you need to learn it. This little method alone simplifies everything and can increase your productivity.
When it comes to starting a business online there is a lot of useful information out there, you can’t consume it all. For the next bit of information, you receive ask yourself if it’s something that will be useful to you now.
If the answer is no, save it for later, you can always go back to it later when the time comes. Here's a quick tip I use evernote to save articles I want to read later. It's nice to have a hub to store your information and be able to access it anywhere because it's an online database.
Overcoming the fear of failure
We naturally fear what we don’t understand, but fear isn’t a sign for you to stop what you’re doing! If Benjamin Franklin was afraid of lightning he wouldn’t have discovered electricity and you would not be reading this blog post, nor would you have a cell phone, etc…
Fear is the realization of uncertainty but when you’re in discovery mode fear could be a sign that you should keep going because what you will discover can be something amazing.
Every time I’m doing something new, especially when it comes to an online business project I’m overwhelmed with a vast wave of fear but by pushing forward I was able to:
- Build my very first website for one of my previous employers
- Run a successful pay-per-click advertising campaign
- Record an interview with a New York Times Best Seller
- Build a massive email list and fulfill thousands of orders from my cell phone
Figuring out how to move forward
Not knowing where to start is a great advantage. This is your discovery period. Since you’re new to things you get to do research and see what is working as well as what is not.
This is a perspective that you can take advantage of as a newcomer to effectively put yourself on a path to success.
One of my objectives with this blog is to cover the first steps to take towards your online business venture, and cover how to find an idea and even how to build a website even if you’re technically challenged.
I look forward to hearing from you, your comments and questions will help me figure out the best way to help you as well as myself in the future.
Thanks for reading.
