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You are not starting that business you dream of because you’re afraid of what people might think or say.
You are not creating that content you would like to because you care quite a bit about what other people think of you.
I actually get so many emails about this, and messages from people saying similar things:
“I’ve actually been thinking about starting my online business through a blog for the longest time, but I just can’t seem to bring myself to do it! I even have blog posts written as drafts and I haven’t published them because I’m afraid of what people will think! I feel overwhelmed with just launching it right, putting myself out there!”
And yes, it can be scary.
I’ve gotten a separate email from someone and I had a conversation with them. She had been thinking about starting a blog for 8 years and she hasn’t done it yet.
Looking back, I actually started my blog about 8 years ago.
Because I did that, because I took that leap of faith then, now I have this online business that makes me my full-time income.
And I don’t have to do a 9 to 5 anymore.
If you’re someone who’s also been putting off starting that YouTube channel, that blog or that online business you’ve been dreaming about, this post is for you.
Let me know if that’s you in the comments below, I would really love to hear from you and have a chat.
I didn’t tell anyone about my blog or YouTube
I really get where you’re coming from.
I know and understand how you might be feeling.
When I first started my blog, in 2013, nearly 9 years ago, I told no one about it.
Not to my parents, not to my now-husband (boyfriend at the time), not to my friends, not to anyone!
The reason why I didn’t share this with anyone, and I think a lot of you can relate to this, was because I felt like I wanted to give this a go, but I also had this fear of ‘what if I’m gonna fail?’.
When we try something new, we have these fears:
- ‘I don’t want to look stupid’
- ‘What will they say’
- ‘What if they’ll discourage me’
- ‘They’ll just make fun of me because they’ll think it’s silly’
I had these fears too, so I didn’t tell anyone.
After a while, I also started a YouTube channel.
I really loved everything that was going on in the online space and I wanted to be a part of it too.
I wanted to have my own place, my own channel, my own blog.
At first, I didn’t know what I was going to do with a blog and a YouTube channel. I didn’t know if I was ever going to make money from this.
I just knew I wanted to be a part of this and give it a go.
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How to Not Care What Other People Think of You (as a Content Creator, Blogger, YouTuber)
Here are a few ways and different perspectives that might help you.
They have helped me on my journey of becoming a much more confident content creator. And they’ve also helped me stop caring so much about what other people think of me.
1. People’s response is usually not as bad your mind makes it up to be
I remember feeling so nervous when someone I knew first found out about my YouTube channel!
Having someone stumble upon you online can feel so nerve-wracking and it can make you feel anxious about it.
And that’s okay!
It makes sense to feel that way. Putting yourself out there for people to see is something very out of our comfort zone, and that can feel really scary.
The thing is, the response you will get from family, friends, or whomever stumbles upon your blog or YouTube channel, it will most likely not be as bad as you had imagined it.
Our mind makes things seem so much worse than they actually are. It often goes to the worst case scenario when it’s usually not the case.
2. Confidence comes from taking action, not from overthinking
I actually get questions about confidence quite a bit: ‘How are you so confident on YouTube?’
But I wasn’t like this in the beginning.
If you go to my YouTube channel and watch the first few of my videos, you’ll notice that they’re really really cringey!
But that’s just how we all start.
You put yourself out there: you create content, you show up consistently, then you gain confidence, and it grows in time.
Confidence isn’t something that comes from overthinking, it always comes from putting in the action, showing up, creating the cringey content first.
Focus on progress, not perfection.
3. Make your mission more important than what that person you knew in high-school might think of you
The thought that really drove me to keep showing up and to keep creating this content was the mission I had.
In the beginning, no one was watching my videos.
No one was reading my blog.
I wasn’t making any money.
But the mission that I had with my blog and business became more important to me than whatever people might think of me.
After my baby was born, over 4 years ago, I had this really strong urge to make money from my blog and channel. To really turn it into a business.
I didn’t want to go back to a 9 to 5.
I didn’t want to put him in child care all day long and not see my baby all day.
That was the moment that my mission to make money online became so much bigger and so much more important to me than wondering whether that person I went to high school with would think I was cringe or not.
Because at the end of the day, who cares?
I know it’s easier said than done, but what others might think of your plans and work doesn’t really matter.
4. Negativity doesn’t really have anything to do with you
Yes, it might happen that someone from your high school might look at your Instagram Reels or YouTube video and think “She’s so silly” or “Oh, she’s just filming those videos / she’s just writing some silly articles on her blog”.
But at the end of the day, what they might say is not that important.
Most people will not say these things to your face even if they might think them.
And if they do, if they put negativity on your content, in comments on your YouTube channel or Instagram, it’s usually because they might be in a really bad place themselves or go through some tough struggles.
This is what usually drives people to go and actively be negative towards someone online.
That’s my take on negative comments and they are never going to prevent me from showing up online.
I’ve received negative comments on my YouTube channel or posts too and it’s just part of this journey.
The thing is, if someone doesn’t like my videos, there are millions of other videos that they can watch.
But instead of watching something else, they chose to put negativity out towards me.
Obviously they are going through their own struggles, and I’m sorry that’s happening for them. But their struggles and their negativity has nothing to do with you and you can’t let them prevent me from doing this.
5. What one person will find cringe, another will find inspiring
At the end of the day, what one person might think is cringe, silly or stupid, another person might actually find really inspiring, motivating or helpful. And that’s just the way it is.
You will never be able to please everyone.
Some people will love your content, some people won’t.
And that’s okay.
That’s why there’s a multitude of channels and blogs out there, so that people can pick and choose who they resonate with and who they really like to follow.
Your job is to stay true to the people who do enjoy your content and who do want to follow you, who want to read your articles or watch your videos, rather than focusing on the people who don’t.
So focus on your audience, focus on the people who want to hear from you.
6. It’s ok to feel the fear and go for it anyway
I know it’s really easy to say these things, but it does take months or years of practice to actually feel like you’re in a good place, to feel like you have that confidence.
In the beginning, it can be scary, and that’s perfectly fine.
It’s okay to feel that level of fear, and go and do it regardless.
Go and be brave, put yourself out there, and do the thing you dream of doing! The fear you’re feeling doesn’t need to stop you or prevent you from achieving your goal. It’s just your mind trying to keep you safe in your comfort zone.
7. How to deal with close ones who are not supportive of you
There’s also this worry of how to deal with family members or close friends who don’t get it, feel like it’s silly, or just don’t understand why you would put yourself out there.
What I would say is that the first step to take is to make sure you have some healthy boundaries put in place there, depending on how harsh they are in their critique.
Family members or close friends might seem like they’re trying to discourage you from doing this, and usually they’re not coming from a bad place.
It can be because they are concerned for you, or because they don’t know how it works.
They’re basically trying to put themselves in your shoes, imagining how they would feel doing this online business thing.
Which often makes them feel very uncomfortable, insecure or unsafe.
So they’re trying to discourage you in order to protect you, unconsciously projecting their fears and insecurities onto you.
But this doesn’t mean you need to take their advice on.
The only people I would take advice from on this subject are people who are actually doing this successfully.
And family members or those close to you don’t have to ‘get it’, as long as they are supportive or at least accepting.
I don’t expect everyone in my family to get it.
I’m sure some of them don’t, but a lot of them have been actually very supportive and surprisingly interested in it once I told them or once they found out about my work.
And chances are, this might be the case for you too. People might surprise you with their reaction and support.
Also, remember that it’s actually a really brave thing to put yourself out there, and it will be inspiring for a lot of people, whether they’re your family or friends.
You might inspire them to go after their dreams too.
It doesn’t mean they want to do something online, they might have other dreams of their own. And because they see you go for it and be brave and do it even though it scares you sometimes, it might push them to do the same.
I think that’s a really beautiful thing.
8. You are letting other people control your life
One thing that I’ve learned through self-development and my journey here is that when you let what people might think of you stop you from doing what you want to do (that YouTube channel, starting that blog), you’re basically letting other people control your life.
If you’re letting other people’s judgment, opinions or thoughts prevent you from following your dreams and giving them a go, you are putting others in control of your life, without them even knowing sometimes.
Because you have that fear of what they might say or think, but most likely they will never actually say anything to you.
But if this fear stops you, you are putting them in charge of your life. This thought has really put things into perspective for me.
9. Your choice
When you’re doing this and you have those thoughts of ‘Maybe I shouldn’t do this, because people will think I’m cringe or silly’, you are actually in a place of choice.
You get to choose between two options:
- ‘Am I going to go after my dream life and potentially make a full-time income or passive income from it?’ OR
- ‘Am I going to stay stuck in a place that I don’t like and I don’t enjoy just because I’m afraid of what this person from high school might say?’
These are your actual options, and you get to make your choice.
Building confidence takes time and practice
I’m not saying it’s going to be easy, nor am I saying it won’t take time to adjust, to build your confidence, and to show up consistently.
It does take time.
And it does take practice.
But the only thing that’s going to get you that success is to actually go and do it. Success and achievements don’t come from overthinking, they come from doing.
And after all, it’s okay if people think you’re cringe.
Because after a while, you will really not care about that! Especially after you start making money from this, you will be able to say ‘Well, you might think it’s cringe, but I make a full-time income from this, so I don’t really care’.
And I know you will get to that place as long as you start and you keep going.
I know so many people struggle with this and struggle to get started, so if you ever feel the need to have a chat about it, definitely leave a comment below. Also, feel free to email me or DM me on Instagram, I do reply there as well.
I hope this post has been helpful, and remember: let people think you’re cringe, start that business, keep going and I promise you will see that success one day.
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I need to re-read this! I write on my blog, delete, write, delete and its not really progressed in 3 years. Sometimes we just need to read that we’re not alone in feeling this way, to get motivated again. <3