8. Your Ego Is the Roadblock

If I’m being honest, I never thought that I would create something like the Dream Roadmap.

I figured that if I created topic-specific courses that everybody would be okay.

But that wasn’t the case.

I would always end up talking to some people who would say that they’re stuck or for some reason, things just aren’t working out.

When I looked at their business it’s as if they decided they weren’t going to listen to a thing I was saying.

They gave me money to learn from me and then proceeded to ignore me.

I don’t think they did it on purpose.

I believe their ego made them think that they are the exception.

For example, there is a whole section on finding your business idea.

I know that some people are going to do the exercises within it, not get the results that they want, and proceed to ignore everything because they are the exception.

I figured I didn’t have to listen to that advice…

This has been told to me on multiple occasions.

There is a difference between being stubborn because you’re very close to getting something to work and being egotistical to the point that you think you can make any shape fit into a square hole.

None of this journey is about you having to prove someone right or wrong. Especially me.

I always want you to be right and I’ve created exercises and lessons to help show you how right you are.

However, if you find that something you want isn’t lining up with what I’m teaching here, it’s okay. Maybe it needs to be tweaked. Maybe it needs to be thrown out.

We will figure it out.

However, please don’t let your ego tell you that you can make anything work because then you’re just going to find that you’ve wasted a lot of time.

Money Mindset

I’m probably not the best person in the world to write a lesson on Money Mindset.

If you want to do a deeper dive into it then I suggest you read You Are a Badass at Making Money.

With that being said there could come a point where you aren’t sure if you deserve to make money.

Since you’re still early in your journey that might sound crazy but it does happen.

For one reason or another people begin to feel bad about trying to make money.

Let’s squash that right now.

There is nothing wrong with charging for the value that you create. This whole Journey is about that.

If charging money is going to better help you serve your audience then you’d be doing them a disservice by not doing so.

Could I give everything I do away for free?

Yep.

Would I be able to create new lessons and resources, spend my time in Slack and Discourse, and continue to try out new things so that I can better help you?

Nope.

Therefore it’s my duty to make money so that I can better help you.

My wife and I like helping people out. I’m the type to always leave a donation when buying groceries.

It’s just who I am.

The more money I make, the more money I can give to those in need.

The more money I make, the more value I can create for you.

There is nothing wrong with making money when you’re serving your audience.

As Brian Tracy famously said:

The best way to help poor people is to not become poor yourself.

There is a ton wrong with making money when you’re ripping people off.

I can’t teach you how to do that.

Your business has a mission. Consider that mission a landmark that you want to reach in your car.

Money is the fuel for that car.

Businesses live and breathe by their revenue.

No revenue. No business.

Don’t ever fall into the trap of thinking you don’t deserve to make money for the value that you put out into the world.

Not an Expert Syndrome

This point will be covered over and over again so get used to it.

You do not need to be an expert to teach others. 

You might need to be an expert to teach everybody but as you know by now you aren’t trying to teach everybody.

Chances are, the person that taught you how to drive wasn’t a professional race car driver.

The only requirement for teaching others is that you are one step ahead of them.

That’s it.

That also means that you need to do yourself a favor and continue to learn.

It’s no coincidence why everything that we do within the Odd Noodle brand is always updated with new content.

We are learning just like you.

I’m not an expert in any of this stuff but I do know what I’m talking about so I share that with you.

Do you remember what the goal of your business is?

It’s not to be the smartest person in the room.

It’s not to ensure you know absolutely everything about everything.

It’s that you serve your audience to the best of your abilities.

Cooking

I’m not a good cook.

I don’t practice cooking enough to be good at it.

But what if I learned how to make one recipe?

I could show up to a kitchen, get the ingredients, and knock that recipe out.

Guess what?

I can now teach that recipe to others.

Then I learn another recipe. And another.

One of the things that you’re going to do on this Journey is focus on specific topics.

That is a good thing.

It means you don’t have to know everything in your niche. You just have to know that one thing.

Odd Noodle started off as a Pinterest book.

So forget that expert mentality, unless you really are one, and start to focus on the things that you can teach.

If you think you aren’t ready to teach anyone anything at this moment because you’re starting from complete scratch then check out the video below.

You can learn anything that you want.