Were You Born Walking?

Wow, I heard it again today, "I'm not stupid, really I'm not!" This was a comment from a Newbie who was expressing her frustration with the mountain of concepts and skills she was facing while trying to get started in Internet Marketing. And what does she currently do for a living? She's a biologist! Yes, a biologist with accreditations a mile long and she felt the need to "convince" me she was not 'stupid?' Her statement would have surprised me if it weren't for the fact that I've heard it hundreds times over my 15 year career in the computer industry. There is something about computers and technology that reduces the best and the brightest to their knees. They somehow feel that because technology is all around them, that they are inept if they haven't absorbed it all by osmosis. And yet, as I have posed the question over and over, did they feel "stupid" the first time they got behind the wheel of a car because they couldn't drive immediately? Could someone who had never seen a cockpit, jump in the seat and fly high into the sky? And yes, were ANY of us born walking? At one point or another in all of our lives there was a task or a skill that we knew nothing about. And likewise, after learning, studying, practicing. we now perform that skill without a second thought. So why then should the Internet be any different? Why should registering a domain name or building a website be considered a skill we were born with? It is all about learning and taking little steps. It is about starting somewhere and building a foundation from that point forward. But most importantly, no one should ever make you feel like a second class citizen because you don't know the proper html coding to create a hyperlink - in fact, you're not even "stupid" if you didn't understand the first part of this sentence! It is critical that you develop a mindset that you are embarking on a new and exciting adventure in whatever you are in the process of pursuing. It is a grand and glorious time of learning! Each day you will add to your bank of knowledge and accomplish something that you previously may not have even known existed. And the learning never stops! Because, yes, it becomes addictive. Once you take that first step, you want to take another, and another and pretty soon, much like the infant learning to walk you are exploring the whole room. And no sooner than you make it across the room, you realize there is another room adjacent to the first. Then there is the outside world to explore - what great excitement THAT will be. And so on and so on. This, my dear friends is how you should approach each day and each new task that is facing you on your journey to Internet success and marketing fortunes (or any other endeavors you are pursuing for that matter!) Like the little child who is exploring new territory for the first time, you too should bring that same enthusiasm into your world. And when you fall? Don't think you're the first and get your head right that it won't be the last! Embrace the mistakes that you make along the way, because in reality, it is from the mistakes that you will learn the most. What is revealed to you through the course of faltering is a greater education about something new. Even the noted Marketing Guru's have words for it that place a positive spin on the whole concept: They "test" their copy, and they "sample" their audience. They don't call it "trial and error," but in essence that's exactly what it is and there is absolutely nothing wrong with it. Because what works today might not work tomorrow, and what is a hot seller this week may be outdated by technological advances that are already in the works around the world before you get up in the morning. And through it all, you will be better for the experience, so embrace it. Mistakes are NOT fatal! They are stepping stones to new avenues! So the next time you hear someone say, "I'm not stupid." or the next time you start to utter those words yourself, stop dead in your tracks and picture this in your mind's eye: A little child pulls himself up and takes his first step, then takes a shaky second step and plops to the ground. He looks up at the expectant adults holding cameras nearby and says, "I'm not stupid, really, I'm not!" Hold this picture in your mind and you will never again feel compelled to apologize for your lack of knowledge in an area that you have never experienced before, I promise!