Bet On Yourself.

I’ve always been an avid reader I guess. It’s like it gives me an ability to calm down, relax, and challenge myself all at the same time. More often than not, however, I tend to find myself learning a lot about myself in the process of reading the most simplistic things on the surface. By that I mean, sometimes when I read, I come across cool quotes such as “Be true to yourself” or “Follow your dreams” or anything inspirational of the sorts. And most times, whether I like it or not, I’ll find myself reading the same line over and over again for emphasis. It’s like I’m allowing the quote to truly hit me and it’s like I’m waiting for something magical to  happen after it finally does. But unfortunately, nothing ever happens. I’m still the same person after reading the quote just as I was before. But maybe that’s the problem...allow me to explain.

In this day and age, where many of my classmates, friends and even family members turn to the “self-help” industry to solve their darkest problems, we fail to realize that we are doing more harm than good. It’s like somehow along the way, whether we like to admit it or not, we’ve granted the likes of Tony Robbins, Gary Vaynerchuck, Seth Godin, and even Oprah the permission to help solve the problems we don’t have the courage to solve ourselves. If I were a therapist, I’d say we look more externally to solve the most internal problems. And I’m here to tell you that’s wrong. I mean maybe I shouldn’t. Maybe you should continue to buy all the self help books and listen to all the podcasts you can. If that brings you joy then I can’t rob you of that. However, I can only speak on my true experience.  

You’re reading the words of someone who fell in love with the self help industry subconsciously. If you were to ask anyone who knows me best, such as my girlfriend, she’d tell you I’m a walking self help library. I’ve consumed all of the content ranging from Garyvee to Tony Robbins to Napoleon Hill and I even grew up watching the Oprah Winfrey Show (I mean who didn’t). But last night, when caught myself reading yet ANOTHER book... I came to a dark and bright realization:

I have consumed a lot from the self help industry through podcasts, YouTube channels, books, and keynote speakers, and that is why I will ultimately fail at whatever I dream of doing.

Yes. Even though I am not a magical genie, I can for sure 100% predict  that I will fail in the near future, if not for the rest of my life, if I continue to take the advice of others as dogma. But why? “Why Wes? How can you say such a thing?” I will fail and I am willing to bet you will too, because you have subconsciously become too dependent on others to give you permission to achieve what you want to achieve.

“Monkey see Monkey do”

I realized, last night, that I’ve been listening to outside voices too much. You know what they say:  “Monkey see Monkey do”. And I’ve only lived that quote to the fullest. I’d watch GaryVee and try to do what he says, however I failed to ever ask myself is this what I want to do. And to be honest no. That’s the thing: What works for GaryVee doesn’t necessarily mean it works for Wes.

We have to learn, whether we like it or not, that we have to bet on ourselves. I’m sitting here writing this “blog” (or whatever) to tell you that I am done playing the self help game. I am done trying to find the answers to my life in someone else’s. And I suggest you do the same.

I’m sitting here telling you that I am actually scared out of my mind for what comes next. I mean as I sit here, and I look at my bank account...there’s 0.27 cents staring right back at me. Gary Vaynerchuck, Oprah Winfrey, Tony Robbins, and Seth Godin combined can’t give me the answer to fix that. But I can.

Betting on yourself is never easy, but I’d rather fail betting on me than succeeding on someone else's recipe. That’s just me.

Wow. I really wrote it all out, hope you liked it...