- Hey everybody! It's Roberto.
So, this might be one of the most important videos
I think I've ever done.
And for that reason,
right now there are no pre-roll ads on this video,
as of the making of it,
or anything like that,
because this is just something
that I know that a lot of you are struggling with,
and I know why.
I think it's because of this time of year
that I think I've gotten more messages,
more emails,
more private dm's,
around this, than anything else.
And that's that a lot of you are struggling with confidence,
and imposter syndrome right now.
This is something that I'm very sensitive to,
because it's something that I dealt with for years,
with struggling with severe depression and anxiety,
and attempted suicide.
Something I've talked about here on the channel before,
something that's really important,
and that I don't want to devalue in any way,
just because I feel like I'm in a much better place now.
There are a lot of you
who talked to me about these issues privately,
that are still going through this,
and I don't want you to think
that I've forgotten in any way, shape, or form,
what that's like,
because the reality is that,
I still fight those things every day,
and if you're going through that you know,
or if you've been through that you know
that it's a battle that you're always fighting.
And you have your good days and you have your bad days,
and hopefully more of them are good than bad.
Often confidence, or a lack of it,
or your insecurities are a source.
Of where a lot of these negative feelings
and this sense of a lack of control,
and desperation really comes from.
I don't know that I can tell you exactly
how to beat it or overcome it.
The most I can do is give you some advice
based on my own experience,
and how I deal with it,
have dealt with it and just what's worked for me,
in the hopes that maybe, just maybe,
it might work for you.
The reason I say, "Just create awesome,"
and, "Create something awesome today,"
is because it's the philosophy
that ultimately changed my life,
and saved my life.
Saved me from myself,
because it gave me back a sense of control,
and a sense of purpose,
and something that I could take action on,
and do consistently,
and that is part of the trick here.
The way that I found to slay my inner demons,
was to bury them under the sheer volume of my actual work.
I'm gonna repeat that.
I slay my demons,
by burying them under the sheer volume,
of my work, and my effort.
And what that means, is this:
When your inner demons,
when the voices in your head show up that undermine you,
that tell you your not good enough,
that you're not special,
that you haven't accomplished anything.
When imposter syndrome shows up.
You beat that lie with the truth,
and the truth is in your actions.
There's a phrase that I've been fond of for several years,
that came from a book by Terry Goodkind.
And it was something to the effect of,
"Mind what people do, not only what they say,
"because actions will betray a lie."
So when your inner monologue
is telling you lies about yourself to devalue you,
so that you can have that lack of self-esteem,
so that those insecurities can mount,
and so that you can have all of the myriad excuses,
to tear yourself down.
You beat those lies,
with your actions and with the results of what you've done,
hopefully on a daily basis i.e., creating something awesome,
doing the work.
Every year, I get the look back at executions,
and accomplishments, and things I've done.
So that I can justify to myself,
my time here.
I can look back at the things I've done,
the things that I've created,
the people that I've helped,
the interactions that I've had,
the things on my to-do list that got done.
And then I can throw all of that
at the things that tell me that I'm wasting my time,
that I don't matter,
that I won't any kind of difference or impact.
Everything that makes me devalue myself as an individual.
Everything that makes me feel small.
Everything that makes me feel insignificant,
or like a waste of space.
Everything that makes me feel not good about myself,
can be defeated by the actions and the memory,
of what it was like to go from zero,
to an actual result.
And by throwing those results,
and the pile of results at those insecurities,
at those fears,
and being able to justify them to myself,
that's how I've dealt with my imposter syndrome.
That's how I've gotten a sense of control,
because in doing something,
I'm controlling how I'm spending my energy,
how I'm spending my time,
and by knowing that there was something,
a void that I filled,
that before I took action, was just nothingness.
That actually matters to me,
and gives me a sense of accomplishment,
and something that I can use to build myself up.
When I get emails and comments,
and things back from you guys
that tell me that you were actually helped by
something that I did, by something that I put out there,
that's great in addition to that result,
because now I have a way to measure
the impact of what I'm doing in the lives of others.
So, by seeking to serve others,
I'm able to serve myself,
and I'm able to defeat my own inner demons.
For me, doing these things
is not a sense of a need for vanity,
or a need for applause,
or kudos.
It's a way of actually, for lack of a better word,
it's my therapy.
In serving others,
I save myself through that therapy,
because I know that I have value.
I know that I have a sense of purpose.
I know that what I did,
had some meaningful, lasting impact in the world,
and I can use that,
to defeat anything negative that I'm saying to myself,
or even negative things that other people bring to me,
because I know have evidence to contradict a lie.
See, I fundamentally believe that there is nothing
more powerful in the universe than truth.
And truth is something that is incontrovertible.
And so that comes down to actions,
and that comes down to personal power,
and having the ability to act.
And I hope that through the things in this channel
that have educated you so that you can take action
for yourself that you're getting more power,
but I think I had to put this into words
and context of how you overcome the biggest barrier
to your success.
Which is you.
And your inner demons.
And you inner monologue.
And your imposter syndrome.
And the way that I found that I beat that,
is through doing the work,
and then showing myself the work to prove the lie,
that my inner demons are trying to beat me with.
This also can work well when you need to tell yourself
something to kind of undermine your haters,
because that will come along too.
Because the bad thing about trolls and haters is,
you're already beating yourself up,
you're already telling yourself a lot of negative things
when you look in the mirror.
You don't need other people to echo and reinforce that.
And that's some of what's hurting the majority of you,
which is why although other people don't agree with it
and say it's thin-skinned or it's this, whatever.
I just say block, and ban, and report trolls and haters,
and people who are coming at you sideways,
because you don't need that.
It's not good for your mental health.
And it's not about being thin-skinned.
It's about self-awareness to know
you've got enough to fight and to deal with,
you don't need anyone else piling on.
You've got work to do,
and they're a stumbling block,
and they're getting in the way.
So that's just something I wanted to add in there,
to give you if you need it,
if it means anything to you.
I'm giving you, not that I think it matters,
but you might.
I'm giving you permission to go against whatever society
or anyone's telling you about sucking it up
and getting a thin skin.
I'm like, "No."
Eliminate the toxic and negative people
and the negative conversations in your life,
for the sake of your mental health,
if that's what you think you need to do,
and then you can revisit that decision,
when you think you're in a healthier place.
That would be my advice.
If you wanna be more confident,
if you want more self-control,
if you wanna be able to build up your self-esteem,
and your self-efficacy,
then I would say that it's gonna come down
to the work that you're doing,
it's gonna come down
to eliminating the negative interactions,
and toxic things in your life.
Whether it's your own bad habits,
whether it's the things that you're telling yourself.
You need to tell yourself a different story.
You need to give yourself opportunities
and a chance to win.
And then, you need to recount those wins and successes
to yourself.
And the more executions,
the more awesome things that you create on a regular basis,
the more that you're doing work that you love,
and that you're proud of,
and things that you're passionate about,
and things that you respect,
and that you think need to be out there.
The more you're doing that.
The closer you're gonna be to finding real happiness,
and real fulfillment, and a sense of purpose,
and a sense of control over your life.
I really think that matters.
I think that that's the best advice
that I have to offer you,
based on my own experience,
and what's worked for me,
and what's made me the happiest
I think I've been in my life over the past few years.
Doing the things that matter the most to me.
So, that's it.
That's my best advice.
That's what I've got.
And I felt I needed to do this video,
and I needed to finish editing this and getting this out,
before I put anything else out there,
that I owe you guys,
that I've been talking about doing.
Some of the other tech videos I wanted to do,
some of the holiday stuff,
I felt that more than anything,
I needed to stop everything I was doing
and get this video,
and this message out to you
because so many of you need it right now.
So many of you I've had to have these conversations,
and I know that the holidays are a very vulnerable time
for people.
It's a vulnerable time for me,
based on things that have happened to me,
family members who are no longer here,
and just a lot of things in the past
that I don't want to revisit.
And I know that for a lot of people,
you're going through that too.
And so I hope that in some small way,
that maybe this video reaches you,
and maybe this video helps you,
and if you think it would help anybody else,
I would ask and invite you to please share it with them,
because I think that it might be some advice
or some help that they might really need,
and if you think that's true,
then please make sure you're getting it out there.
I'm not gonna ask you to like this video.
What I'm gonna ask that you do is that you just
take it to heart and that you action on it,
and if there is something you feel compelled
that you want to share about yourself,
or what might help you, or somebody else,
or you feel you want
to have a conversation about this,
I invite you to do that in the comment section.
I'm gonna be very carefully monitoring the comment section,
to make sure that
it's being used appropriately for this video,
because I think that that really matters,
based on what were talking about here.
As always you guys,
thanks so very much for watching,
and please, please go out there,
and create something awesome today.
Take care.