Make Your Mark Now | Turn Doubt into a Home Run

Good morning, Believe Nation! Today's message is ignore the little man. Over to you, Kate Winslet. I wake up every morning, espresso keeps me going. I wake up every morning.

When I was younger, when I was only 14, I was told by a drama teacher that I might do okay if I was happy to settle for the fat girl parts.

'Look at me now.

Look at me now.' And so what I feel like saying in those moments is, you know, any young woman who has ever been put down by a teacher or a friend or even a parent, just don't listen to any of it, because that's what I did. I didn't listen, and I kept on going, and I overcame all of my fears, and I got over a lot of insecurity, and and just keep doing it and keep believing in yourself. You know, that's what I felt like I really had to dig deep and do. And, um, and so I would dedicate it to all those young women who doubt themselves, because you shouldn't be doubting. You should just be going for it.

If you're trying to do something big and important, then you're going to have people who are going to try to tear you down. It's going to happen. If you stand for something important, if you have a big mission that you're trying to accomplish, then you're going to have people who you stand against. You're going to have people who are in your way, even if you have the most noble, positive mission, you look at mine, Believe, right? Like, how do you hate on Believe? How do you hate on believing in people to do amazing things? There's no negativity in my message. I'm not making videos about how people suck. It's intentional to make everything positive and honestly, to the detriment of my channel. Like, I could get way more views and subscribers and comments if I was antagonizing people and telling people that they suck. I don't want to build that kind of channel. I don't want to have that kind of vision for what I'm building. But even then, even though we're staying on the positive always, we get people who hate the message. You get the little man who is going to hate and attack people and say that what we're doing is stupid. And so no matter how big or how positive a thing is that you have to do, this is what you're taking a stance on, you're going to have people who just don't like it. And it's their issue more than you. They had something in their past that is coming up. And they don't want to see you be successful. It has nothing to do with you. It's all them and their issue. See, I see entrepreneurs as heroes. You know, I see entrepreneurs— we're about to take our at-bat, right? We're in the stadium. We've been practicing. We've been working to get to the major leagues. We've been grinding and hustling. And this is our chance, right? This is our chance to do something. And 70% of at-bats in baseball, 70% of at-bats are out. For a good hitter, for the best hitters in the world, they will only get a hit 30% of the time. That happens to entrepreneurs too. Most of the things that we try aren't amazing. Most of the things that we try don't work. I've thrown away, I've tried and thrown away more ideas than most people even start. So expect to get out a lot. Expect to get a lot of failure, right? But finally we've made it. We've got our big at-bat. This is it, right? Maybe we get a single, right? Maybe we just get to first base. Maybe we get a little bit of contact, we get to second base, we get a double. And maybe, maybe this idea that you have right now, maybe this amazing thing that's inside you, maybe the timing is just right. Maybe the execution is just right. And you see that pitch coming down. This is your moment, all that hard work, all that practice, this is your time, right? And you smash the home run. That's what we want. That's what we've been working so hard for. That's what we put up with all the failure for. To hit that home run, to run around the bases, to celebrate, to do something meaningful and impactful. Who's the little man? The little man is the guy just watching you. The little man is the guy up in the stands buying his Cracker Jacks, buying some beer, and yelling insults at you and telling you that you suck and telling you all the reasons why you're never gonna hit a home run. Throwing popcorn down at you saying, "Go home! Go home, you bum!" That's what the little man is. The people who are too afraid to get up and go do something themselves. The people who are too afraid to put in the work to get their at-bat. They're going to bring down everybody else around them. And maybe they took an at-bat once. Maybe they took their shot. Maybe they tried to believe in themselves once. Maybe they had that idea and they tried to do something with it and they failed and it didn't work out. And the story they tell themselves now is, "This is never going to work." And of course, it can't be their fault, right? It's not their fault. Somebody else's fault. The economy, the government, the president, schooling, lack of resources, lack of money, whatever it is, it's always somebody else's fault. And because they didn't have success, now you can't either. Look at the people in your life who are hating on your idea, really hate, like the little man, the people telling that you can never do this. The people who are really stomping you down, have they done what you are trying to do? Whatever your mission is, whatever your ambition is, have they done what you are trying to do? Have they hit the ball like you want to hit it? Have they hit their home run in the same way you want to hit yours? Have they done it? Stop listening to them. They are cancer. The more you spend around those people, the more you believe what they believe, the more you become one of them, the more that big idea that you have gets further and further from reality, and you start thinking, "Ah, that was really stupid," and then you become like them, and then you start dragging other people down as well. Don't do that. Don't pay attention to the little man. Create a better environment. Change your friends, change the resources you consume, change the videos that you watch. Create a morning routine and a ritual and a habit that sets you up for boldness every day. Because you got to put in the work to get your at-bat. You got to put in the work. And even when you get there to the major leagues, you're going to get out 70% of the time. Doesn't matter. Doesn't matter that you failed. Doesn't matter if the fans are booing at you. Doesn't matter if they're throwing peanuts at you. You want to hit that home run? You're ready. Believe. So the question of the day today is, I'm curious, who has been the little man in your life? Leave it in the comments below. I'm curious to find out. I also want to give a quick shout out to Katrina Meganson. Thank you so much, Katrina, for picking up a copy of my book, Your One Word. Really, really, really means a lot to me, and I hope you're enjoying the read. So thank you guys again for watching. I believe in you. I hope you continue to believe in yourself and whatever your one word is. Much love, and I'll see you again tomorrow morning for another shot of espresso.

When I sing that song every night, I'm like, wow, like, who'd have thought that all of this from that, you know what I mean? And, you know, people told us that was a bad record to go with. Nobody plays, you know, slow records. It'll never cross over. Nobody's gonna get it. You won't make it. I mean, they told us everything under the sun, but it felt good and it felt special. And when people heard it, they were moved. And, you know, all the pieces just fell into place. So it's definitely, you know, my calling card. It's like my, my little baby, you know, and I cherish and respect it.

Yeah, don't let cool people tell you you're not cool because they're not cool. So, you know, I was a loser for, you know, by stereotype for many years. And it's like the classic case of look at me now, you know what I mean? So I mean, let me tell you something. If you're out there right now and you like have no idea who you are or what you belong to, it took me— I don't know, I mean, it took me— I just figured out last year. Last year was the first time I ever like looked in the mirror and was like, I like that guy. It took me 25 years. So, and you know, I don't know, don't listen to— don't listen to what the cool people say, man. They're not cool. Do what— do what you do. What you do is cool.

Ignore people telling you your idea is bad. They may be right, but the only way to know is to actually build it out. And I think the thing that works about Silicon Valley that's different than Mexico City or almost anywhere else in the world is the default response. If someone says, hey, I'm going to start a startup, here's my idea, the default response is to be excited and think like, oh, why might that work? And in most of the rest of the world, the default response when you tell someone your idea is to say, "Oh, that's not going to work." And this is really toxic for startups, because you have to believe in yourself. And the good ideas, because they sound like bad ideas, are so fragile and so killable that you have to be really careful to insulate yourself against this.