Today we’re talking about the biggest lie people tell themselves that keeps them from taking their side hustle online.
It’s a lie almost as damaging as the myth of perfectionism like we talked about in episode 33, which you can find on iTunes at www.peptalksforsidehusters.com/iTunes.
People say this lie to me all the time, and every time I hear them say it, I know that not only are they lying to themselves, they are also lying to me.
You wanna know what it is?
“I’m not techie.”
I hear all the time from people that they aren’t techie.
But when I hear that from people, here’s what they’re really saying.
- I have no confidence in myself.
- I’m going to apologize up front for asking you so many questions.
So let me ask you this:
Do you think that people are born with an innate ability to use technology? How does a 1-year-old learn how to walk? By trying to stand up and then falling a bajillion times before they finally get it right.
If you ask my mom about my most annoying quality, she would say “persistence.” Well, maybe she wouldn’t use that exact word…
But anyway, when I was a teenager I wouldn’t take no for an answer. I always wanted to know why. I always had a counter argument and I always had a negotiation ready. And I was always grounded for having an attitude and not doing what I was told… Whoops. I know, can you believe it? LOL!
Lucky for her, I translated my persistence into an almost OCD-like obsession with figuring out the how and why behind everything I do.
The reason I understand how to use WordPress and fix computers and solve people’s tech problems is not because I’m the product of two super-nerd tech geniuses (although my dad is kind of a nerd) – it’s that I believe there’s an answer and I don’t give up until I find one or confirm that I can’t do something the way I wanted to do it.
Let’s say I wasn’t into this web stuff at all – I could become proficient at anything with persistence, right?
I don’t know why you told yourself you weren’t techie somewhere along the way.
Maybe you got frustrated using badly-designed technology. Maybe some annoying IT guy made you feel stupid for asking for help.
Maybe you were never taught how to use the Google machine to find answers to all of life’s problems (hint: you type in your question exactly as it’s formed in your mind).
Maybe you’re paralyzed by a lack of confidence and what you’ve really done is pigeon-holed yourself as someone who isn’t techie. Or someone who isn’t athletic, or smart, or beautiful, or whatever that voice in your head that lacks confidence tells you.
Look, all “being techie” means is having the persistence to figure something out, being willing to fail and try again a bajillion times and when you do fail, not internalizing it by telling yourself you’re stupid, or you’re not techie, or whatever that bully inside your head is telling you.
If we talked to our friends the way we talk to ourselves, we wouldn’t have any friends!
When you watch my Free 5 Day Website Challenge training videos, you’re not seeing the 7 times I messed up the steps before I got it right. The rest of that is on the cutting room floor. You get the benefit of me doing all the screwing up for you! Well, most of it anyway.
You’re going to run into things that just don’t work the way you expect, but as my favorite mentors Marie Forleo & Chalene Johnson say: “Everything is figure-outable.”
What I’m doing when I'm teaching you how to build a website in my Free 5 Day Website Challenge is giving you the shortcut – but don’t make the mistake in thinking that I didn’t take the long way to get there, and after I got there I figured out the shortcut.
Finally, stop apologizing for not knowing something!! I’m guilty of saying “sorry” for things I’m not and shouldn’t be “sorry” for all the time… I’m working on it.
So join our Facebook group at www.shannonmattern.com/facebook, and never apologize for asking questions that are going to move you forward in your side hustle – that’s what the group is for, and that’s what persistence is all about.
You are techie. You are smart. You are awesome. You have it in you to do this. You just have to believe that you can, and be open to failing as a learning experience, not as a frustration that makes you quit.
Today’s pep talk is brought to you by Bluehost. Go to www.shannonmattern.com/bluehost and get 36 months of web hosting for just $2.95 a month. That’s less than one trip to Starbucks a month – and if you’re anything like me, you’re at Starbucks more than that!
Then you can sign up for my Free 5 Day Website Challenge at www.shannonmattern.com/5day and I’ll show you step by step how to get started building your new website for your side hustle.
