Hey Reader,
I’ve started a lot of businesses over the last 20 years or so. I’ve done a lot of things. Started a record label, managed the janitorial crew of a 18 building facility for a multi-billion dollar company, sold life and health insurance, ran fast food restaurants, helped open a bar, co-owned a concert club, and launched an online marketing firm.
I’ve had some successes, and I’ve had a lot of failures. Most importantly, I’ve learned a ton along the way.
A little over 10 years ago, I co-founded my current venture, and all that learning helped me to help our team grow it to a profitable 7-figure consulting business in an industry I knew basically nothing about.
We’ve definitely had our share of mistakes and failures, but we’ve also had a lot of success.
Yet, I constantly find myself listening to that little voice in my head telling me, “You’ll never make it. You aren’t smart enough. You don’t deserve it, you couldn’t even cut it in college. You’ll fail like you always do. This will end and it will be because YOU screw it up. You’ll ruin this for everyone.”
To be clear, when I say “constantly” I am not exaggerating. It is constant. Every time I need to make a decision, give our team my opinions, or speak to a group of educators, those voices come screaming.
Sometimes they’re louder than others...but they are always there.
In my work with EDUpreneurs, I’ve found the same is true for them. Likely, as an EDUcreator, the same is true for you.
- “You’re just a teacher.”
- “Why are you trying to start a business?”
- “It’s greedy to want to do something outside the classroom.”
- “What, you think you know better than everyone else?”
- “Stay in your lane.”
Sound familiar?
So, how do we block those voices out, or at least lower the volume?
I believe the first step is realizing that those voices are not you. Yea, they probably sound a lot like you, but they aren’t you.
They were put there by someone else.
- Sometimes by society - telling us that only certain people are meant to do more than what their current job is.
- Other times, by people who care about you, but don’t understand you.
- And a lot of times, by people who could never put themselves out there like you do, so they need to bring you down to make themselves feel better.
The second step is to surround yourself with better voices. Positive voices. Voices that speak of optimism, opportunity, and happiness.
If you’re fortunate enough to have these voices close by, lean into them. Spend more time with them versus those negative ones.
If you’re not sure where to find these voices, look to podcasts, masterminds, accountability groups, and communities. Surround yourself with voices that understand you, support you, and pull you up instead of knocking you down.
I won’t sit here and promise it’s easy. And I won’t promise it’ll happen quickly.
But I can promise that if you get intentional about who and what you surround yourself with, it’ll get better. You’ll find yourself doubting yourself less.
Notice, I said “less” not “never.”
We all doubt ourselves. We all carry those voices with us. But we can lower the volume, tune them out, and make them think twice before speaking up again.
I’d love to hear how you handle the voices of self-doubt. Hit “reply” and let me know.
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I hope this helps
~ Jeff
*Keep scrolling for I’m listening to, links to check out, and a content creation idea!
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I appreciate you.
Jeff Gargas
COO / Co-Founder, Teach Better Team
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P.S. When you're ready, here's how I can help:
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🎧 What I'm listening to:
⚡️Things to Check Out
🤖 Why AI Won’t Replace Humans, But Will Replace Skills?
- AI’s real power lies in its ability to streamline and refine business processes.
- The future of AI in organizations is about efficient delivery and smarter solution mechanisms.
- AI can analyze vast datasets to identify inefficiencies, recommend process improvements, and even automate decision-making in real time.
- By doing so, it helps organizations deliver better outcomes, faster, and with fewer errors.
- 👉 Read the article here.
✅ Think Trial Reels are a waste of time? Think again.
- In this video, Shannon dives headfirst into one of Instagram’s least-understood features: Trial Reels.
- She shares what’s worked (and flopped) in her tests, how she’s using a simple draft-and-duplicate trick to maximize every post, and why not putting pressure on the outcome is exactly the point.
- If you’ve been banging your head against the wall wondering why some Reels tank and others suddenly catch fire, this is the real talk you need.
- 👉 Watch the video here.
📢 Amazon Ads Launches New AI-Powered Video Generation Tool
- Expect to see more AI-generated ads on the Amazon website going forward.
- Amazon announced the US release of its AI-powered video generator tool after nine months of beta testing.
- It also rolled out an updated version of the image generator first announced in 2023.
- 👉 Read the article here.
💡CONTENT CREATION IDEA
Answer A Question You Get All The Time
Next time you’re not sure what to post, try answering a question you get all the time.
- What do people DM you about?
- What do friends or coworkers ask when they find out what you’re building?
Turn the answer(s) into a post, email, or video.
If one person asked, others are wondering, too.
Happy creating!
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