If I Had To Start Over. . .

[carlos123]

I cannot guarantee that you may be able make money online by just being motivated, by being persistent, committed, and having patience. But I can guarantee that you will not make money online through a lack of motivation, lack of focus and commitment, and a lack of patience.

That is a quote worth repeating Omar. Thank you.

Carlos

[TomM]

I believe IT is simply understanding how to succeed, at least as it relates to Internet Marketing. Once you have tasted a small success and you see that it is possible, your natural IT will kick in and drive you forward. As a newbie at the very beginning of the process, I can look at others' success and say to myself, if they can do it, I can do it. That fills my IT needs until I see my own success. Those on this thread who say not everyone has IT are flat out wrong, sorry to say. There are many people who take a look at Internet Marketing and get frustrated by a lack of success or chase the shiny penny and quit. That is not a lack of IT that is a choice that they made. They decided to put their time and effort to another use. A decision, nothing more. I believe that I could hire those quitters and train them to do IM as a job, most of them would do quite well, secure in their paycheck. That is a choice, not an IT.

[Jan Ferrante]

I don't know exactly what 'it' is, that's what we all want to know.

My best guess is that its self confidence. I don't mean the self confidence that you get brave and strap on in front of everyone but that crumbles when you are alone. I mean the absolute knowing inside of yourself that you can do anything you set your mind to 'better' than anyone else.

But that comes from a combination of many things - some people have them and some people don't. Some people have more than others.

What are those things? Lots of them are things that you are born with, some might come with time.

Being sharp - smart, quick, effective.

Having star quality - either good looking or interesting looking (or not being affected at all with what you look like if you are neither of those) Or looking friendly and approachable.

Natural Magnetism - Some people just have it, I can't explain it. It could just be a form of complete self confidence that draws people in.

Flow - All these things roll together to create momentum.

I also think that a person can improve their own level of 'itness' (or lose it by frittering it away), but create hard core 'it'? I'm not so sure.

I don't think that not having 'it' is anything to be ashamed of, if we all had 'it', there would be no movie stars, no entertainers, no internet gurus (that's an interesting statement)

So if you don't have 'it', does that mean you have to go roll over and die somewhere? Give up all of your dreams? Of course not. It just means that you have to make the most of your own talents. That's where stepping out of our comfort zone comes in.

Despite all of this 'it' talk, the one thing that you should never lose is your belief in yourself, which happens sometimes when we get too tied up with all this 'it' stuff and then we go out and buy courses from people with 'it' or feel intimidated and give up or let it get us in a bad mood. That's not a constructive frame of mind.

The times in my life that I regret or think 'if I could go back' are the times without fail, when I didn't believe in myself - the times that I froze instead of jumping off.

It's like the choke in the clutch thing that Andy Jenkin's was talking about.

You might lose lots of things, but as long as you have belief in yourself, you can get through pretty much everything, even if you don't have 'it'. (and no, I don't think that absolute self confidence is the same as self belief - you can have self belief without absolute self confidence.)

But if that's gone, it doesn't even matter if you do have 'it'.

I have an audio by Brian Tracy called Motivating Yourself to Peak Performance that talks all about this.

It's one of his best IMHO.

He says that successful people like themselves. To wake up everyday and say "I like myself." And say it again and soon you will really start to like yourself - a lot. And then you will like other people better. And then they will like you better. And then you will like yourself even better. And so on.

So I think that we should all wake up every day and say to ourselves, "I'm just so freaking good that I don't know what to do with myself! Damn, I'm good" All together now!

Seriously, someone said (Zig Ziglar maybe?) that your success grows as your personal development grows or something like that.

Maybe that is a really good place to start, or should at least be a part of everyone's online education.

[Julie Anna]

I have an audio by Brian Tracy called Motivating Yourself to Peak Performance that talks all about this.

Affiliate link? Besides making a contribution to your pending success I'd love to hear the talk!

JA

[Lynn Terry]

Hmm.. I have successful affiliate sites under a pen name, with no photo, where I am never seen or heard - that do plenty well. So I don't think personality or looks play any part in success with an online business at all.

With more than one of those affiliate sites, I wasn't 100% confident they would succeed. I didn't even "believe in myself" to that extent. It was more of a "test this to see how it works and if I get results" - and I tweaked it until I did (reading & learning as I went).

I really feel like we're over-complicating things here...

[Julie Anna]

t's like the choke in the clutch thing that Andy Jenkin's was talking about.

You might lose lots of things, but as long as you have belief in yourself, you can get through pretty much everything, even if you don't have 'it'. (and no, I don't think that absolute self confidence is the same as self belief - you can have self belief without absolute self confidence.)

But if that's gone, it doesn't even matter if you do have 'it'.

My secret and most of my IT is a belief in others not necessarily in myself. I really think if I can help you then I help me. That feeling of success I get in helping you does breed confidence but it's not centered on me or my belief structure. My vision is actionable regardless if I have a solid belief in me which some days has hit the floor. The vision and the action step I can take to help at least one other person today is not based on my feelings or confidence level but a goal which supports my overall business philosophy.

I want to serve my market even if that's matching them with a product or service. I try to go a step further and actually believe they are good folks who can benefit from my God given abilities (and developed skills through that gift). It's about them not me.

That said, I do think Tracy has decent teachings - I try to take the meat and spit out the bones.

JA

[Alan Petersen]

I really feel like we're over-complicating things here...

Exactly! This thread is now offering some excellent examples of over-analyzing everything to in action.

What is your goal? You want to be a well-known celeb type in your niche than yes showmanship, charisma and all that is necessary and everyone has it in them. But not everyone wants that. They just want to create their niche sites and make a nice living at it. You can do that as well without having to brand yourself. Either way it takes focus, planning, goals, and work. So don't over-complicate the process.

[Susanne Myers]

My best guess is that its self confidence. I don't mean the self confidence that you get brave and strap on in front of everyone but that crumbles when you are alone. I mean the absolute knowing inside of yourself that you can do anything you set your mind to 'better' than anyone else.

Uh-Oh! If self confidence or even confidence in general is "it", I'm in big trouble and should probably close up shop.

I am not a confident person at all. I just didn't let it stop me from just doing stuff and trying things.

Susanne Myers

[Jan Ferrante]

Thanks Julie Anna I like Brian Tracy but his affiliate tools aren't the greatest. I couldn't find a direct link for that product but if you go to my site on the sidebar there is an ad for Brian Tracy. If you click that link you can get a free CD - 21 Success Secrets of Self Made Millionaires - and then search Motivating Yourself to Peak Performance in the search bar and it will come up. http://www.queenofkaos.com/WAHMblog

I like your philosophy and that is what I also try to use as my baseline. And that is the part that I truly enjoy.

I completely agree Alan, but I do think that 'it' can effect a lot of the behind the scenes things you do and don't do that can lead to success as well.

I had the uber successful guru's in mind somewhat - I admit, when I think of success, I think of them which may be a good place to start changing my mindset and business model - which is part of being real with yourself.

Lynne, there are entire industries that use 'it' factors to sell so I don't really think 'it' is something to be completely discounted but as you and Alan have pointed out, there are other avenues to explore.

I think many people are thinking a lot of the things we've discussed in this thread. Getting it out in the open and talking about it (no pun intended ) can help us to get past it all and find solutions.

[Jan Ferrante]

Well, there goes my theory Suzanne