You want something. You set a goal. You start with enthusiasm. You put in hard work. But then things get tough. You lose hope. And so you give up.
This is the story of 97% of people. And I used to be one of them.
I started a YouTube channel in July 2021. Although I wasn’t comfortable speaking on cameras, I did it because I thought it would be the right thing to do.
I started making videos about the only thing I loved- books. I summarized self-help books, reviewed fiction books, made unboxing videos, recommended the best books to read, and so on.
This continued for 5 months. I was enjoying the process. My channel now had 23 videos. And then, I gave up!
Why?
Well, I wasn’t getting much views.
The channel wasn’t growing. I worked hard for each video, from writing script, shooting, and editing to finally uploading with an attractive thumbnail and title. But my subs count was stuck at 300 something.
One of my friends told me that if I put in a lot of effort and still didn’t get the results, what was the benefit of working so hard. He told me to do something which gave results. And I thought he was right. I was wasting my time making videos.
Now, it has been 2 years since then, and I haven’t uploaded any videos on the channel.
You see what happened here? I gave up because I wasn’t getting any outcomes. I quit making videos when my channel didn’t get views and subs. And that’s one of the biggest mistakes I ever made.
Here’s why:
I let the outcome affect me. I allowed the outcome (views and subs) to dictate my effort (making videos). Whereas the reality is the opposite- my effort dictates the outcome.
That means if I had kept making videos consistently, I would have gained views and subs sometime in the future.
Sure, this meant a lot of work. I might have to study the analytics and understand which videos didn’t work and why. I might have to master storytelling, humor, and better editing skills. I might have to keep learning to make engaging and useful videos.
There were several ways to fix the situation. But I couldn’t stick with the game. I thought it would never work because it didn’t work in the last 5 months. And this type of thinking is the problem.
Just because things didn’t work in the past doesn’t mean it will never work. And it applies to everything you do- starting a business, losing weight, earning money, or writing on Medium.
People get affected by the outcome. They feel pessimistic about the future. They lose hope. Their motivation fades. They forget why they started. And the goals seem not worth pursuing.
The thing is it’s all natural to feel this way. If you do a lot of hard work and still don’t get much results, you will start to doubt yourself. This happens to almost everybody.
And that’s a test. This is what separates winners from losers. Only those who are strong and obsessed enough to climb the harsh mountain will be able to plant the victory flag on the peak and see the breathtaking view from the top.
You need to have faith in the process. You need to believe that if you work hard, it will pay off- maybe not today, maybe not the next week, maybe not the next month, but it will happen eventually.
Because effort never goes to waste. Each small effort you put in is saved in your “life account” the same way you deposit money in your bank account. When the time is right, life will let you withdraw all the accumulated effort, and that’s when you will have massive success.
So, I challenge you to change your mindset right now. Tell yourself you won’t get swayed by the outcomes. You will only focus on doing what’s your work. You will show up daily, learn relevant skills, and constantly improve yourself.
You will give it whatever it takes. And then you will get whatever the outcome you desire.
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