If you subscribe to the Prosperity Blog published by my friend, Randy Gage, you are familiar with his story. He went from a drug-abusing, high school dropout who would serve time in prison for breaking and entering, to a business failure foreclosed upon by the IRS and about as financially down-and-out as a person could be…to a hugely successful entrepreneur who now teaches others how to tap into their abundance.
Randy is part of my MasterMind group and I can tell you he is “the real deal.” He has written that the first thing he did on his journey to success was to make the decision to change. Next was to study abundance. The third was to act on this new information. Obviously, he did it. The results speak for themselves.
So, in the Comments section of one of his recent posts he was asked a question. A simple question. A good question. It was:
“Randy, on your journey from dishwasher to multimillionaire were there ever times when you thought you’d never make it, that you were just fooling yourself? Where your riches and all the good stuff just seemed too far away?”
He replied:
“There were many times I was frustrated and wondering if things would ever work. But I stayed with it and finally broke through.”
A very simple answer. And, in my opinion, a profound one. So many people who read a book, take a course, or watch a video about becoming abundant and financially successful (or reaching any particular goal they choose to pursue) believe that this climb to success happens quickly and with no doubts. And that if they doubt, that means they are not really believing.
Not true. We are human. We have doubts. And, when things don’t go exactly as we’d like them to, or as fast as we’d like (and do they ever?) we question our decisions.
This is natural. So, how can we overcome it?
I believe the key is to understand in advance that you will have doubts. So, allow yourself to have them. And, do the thing anyway. Rather than letting the doubts stop you, decide to work through them… and do so.
What do you think? Have you found this to be true? And, how do you handle your doubts?
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This article’s timing is curiously suspicious, but there are no accidents in the universe. Not ten minutes ago I was in the shower contemplating if the universe is telling me something. I’ve had nothing but personnel issues for months now, and often contemplate throwing in the towel and going back to work for the man. But I’ve come too far to do that. So then the message goes from “Throw in the towel” to “Do it better next time” and I move on.
One day I’ll look back on this crap and laugh. ‘Might as well start today.
Off to work…..
Thanks for the timely, blog.
Rene.
Rene: Wow, powerful, my friend. Thank you for sharing that with us. Please keep in touch and let us know how things are progressing!
Hello Sir
Thankyou. An inspiring post.
Abhinav
Thanks, love your take on this!
-RG
Randy: Thank you. So appreciate you allowing us to share your wisdom in today’s post!
I don’t think there’s ever a bad time for this kind of message. All of us go through stages where we wonder what the heck we’re doing. That’s the sometimes lonely life of an entrepreneur, so it’s good to have a support network… and to read posts like this.
Please post it again and again, when someone else will find it timely once more 🙂
Carl: Thank you, great point. I do believe that is true. At least for most of us (myself certainly included!)
I send doubt to his room so belief can step up and do the job.:)
Amy: 🙂 🙂
Abhinav: Thank YOU so much!
I have been controlled by my doubts in the past. And I am still struggling with them. Does it ever get any easier?
Judy: Thank you for sharing. In answer to your question, I don’t know if it ever actually gets easier. I certainly cannot say I enjoy my doubts. However, I think that when we understand them for what they are we are less intimidated by them. Anyone else have any thoughts about that for Judy?
It absolutely is a “one step at a time” process. When I climbed Mt. Rainier last year (climbing again in September), it was a fascinating observation that the higher I got on the mountain….the less people there where. Only those willing to train every day, plan and prepare for the climb will make it to the high peak (weather permiting). Same applies in business and life. That WHY has to be pretty darn big.
Kathleen: WOW – Congrats on the successful climb! Thank you for sharing with us.
Doubts have pretty much controlled my life. I am working on changing that. Thank you for your story about climbing, Kathleen. I am a visual person. I will be visualizing that any time the doubts are creeping in.
I love this and live by it! If you truly believe in the impossible, and you consistently work hard to make it happen, you won’t be disappointed. The speed bumps are only there to make us stronger in the end. Thanks for posting Bob!
Alisa: Thank you for sharing your encouraging thoughts with us!
Thank you for this post Bob! It means a lot to get this validation, especially when we are questioning whether we can keep going! Everytime I start having doubts I will come back to this post and Randy’s words.
Nivia: Thank you. I LOVE knowing that!
Hey Bob, another great post. I’ve been following Randy from my peripheral vision and meaning to check out his work more. Look like I’ll have to do that.
The theme of this post has more weight than most people will realize. Back in my early university days, I start to realize some of my friends gave up too easy. Exercise, learning new stuff, staying with things until you succeed.
This staying power is absolutely essential in business (and relationships). I am not talking doing the same thing over and over and failing yet expecting different results (definition of insanity I believe), but doing, reflecting, adapting and trying again until you succeed. I think pretty much every (including ours) business goes through tough times. These tough times take you to the next level of growth personally if you stick them out. If you quit you go back (most times) to square one.
As they say, if it was easy, everyone would do it.
Doug: Awesome. Thank you for sharing such great wisdom with us!
“Let a person who has to make their fortune in life remember this maxim: Attacking is the only secret. Dare and the world always yields; or if it beats you sometimes, dare it again and it will succumb.”
~ William Makepeace Thackeray
Sean: Awesome. Says it all, doesn’t it? Thank you for sharing!
GREAT article Bob – LOVE it.
I follow Randy Gage every day and USE his videos and books, and have been doing so for the last couple of years. Yes, I often wondered i f I ever would reach a point where I would break through, because it’s a LOT of work (for me it is). But I continue anyway. I think it’s a matter of continuing no matter the doubts, ad not let the doubts take over. Get rid of them limiting beliefs that does not serve YOU, and replace them with positive ones that does. THAT definately works for me!!!! And I think I reached this tipping point (51 %) recently. Because no matter what I touch right now – I SUCCEED!!!! Such an amazing experience, and life is definately both easier, happier and AWESOME. It IS huge work, but you just have to continue. IT’S REALLY WORTH THE STRUGGLE and at the tipping point it most definately gets easier!!!! LIFE IS GREAT
Thank’s Bob
Hugs and love from Denmark
Judy: So glad you found Kathleen’s example to be helpful. Keep in touch and let us know how you are progressing!
Lene: That is AWESOME, my friend. Keep it up. As Randy teaches, once you break through that tipping point it gets even easier. Yahoooooo!!
Knowing how to tame the doubt monster (aka our mind) is key to success. Great insight on this one Bob. Thanks for sharing it!
Melanie
Melanie: Thank you. And I know you’ve done a lot of terrific teaching on that topic as part of your coaching. Thank you for the kind feedback!
Very topical at the moment, I’m at #TheGrowthSummit live with Jim Collins, and he talks about productive paranoia, which is similar to having doubts.
Being able to ask the “What if…. ?” questions, thinking about possible negative outcomes is a key factor in GREAT leaders, we think about possible difficulties, and then find solutions to those- we are then prepared for difficult challenges.
Having self doubt can highlight areas with which we personally need to strengthen. This is why I consider myself a business coach, rather than just a business consultant; because I love working with entrepreneurs- coaching THEM to perform to their optimum, not just the business being effective.
Entrepreneurs/leaders are the most important asset in any business, if you’re one it is certainly worth investing your time, effort, energy & money in strengthening aspects of yourself. Self doubt can, as I said help you understand key areas that are worth investing in. If it’s doubt in skills, maybe it’s necessary to recruit the right person with those skills. If it’s a doubt in your own ability, maybe investing in confidence coaching is the right strategy.
Celebrate doubts, celebrate paranoia; it is likely to help you overcome those potential obstacles that would stop others in their tracks.
Above all; keep on keeping on and you’ll keep on learning & developing and becoming the leader you need to be to be a truly great leader.
thanks Bob for another simple & great blog post which is so pertinent and valuable to any leader / entrepreneur. As always, I love what you do and admire your leadership, thank you for being you. And thank you Randy for inspiring this one, love you too!! 🙂
Claire: Thank you. Enjoyed reading your thoughts and teachings. Thank you for sharing with us!
Brilliant, Bob (and Randy!).
This brings to mind some wise advice from my mentor, Judge Rosenn, that has stayed with me over the years and I revisit often. He’d say, “In times of great uncertainty and need, you will have doubts. Also have hopes. Have dreams.”
These words allow me to be with the doubts in a much bigger space that also supports me in staying connected to why I’m doing what I’m doing…and why it matters.
Dr. Mollie: What outstanding advice from your awesome mentor. Good thing for us that you were his protege and kind enough to share that with us. Congratulations on your book, “Walking With Justice” about the man himself, Judge Rosenn. I keep hearing great things about it, which means it’s continung to make its way around.
I guess I could say if I had a dollar for every doubt I WOULD be a very wealthy person 🙂 Something that just happened to me was this: in taking a longer-than-planned amount of time away from my real estate business, I realized I really didn’t have any clients lined up. I started doubting myself and my ability to gain clients quickly. Then I thought of all I have learned from Randy, The Strangest Secret, Think and Growth Rich and Linda Ryan (:)) and I said…no more doubts, I KNOW I can fill the funnel again. Guess what happened…I have 3 new clients in 2 weeks…not bad, eh?
Christie: I LOVE IT!! Way to go!!