Breakthroughs & Barriers

Thursday, January 29th, 2009 at 4:31 PM

Well for most of us on the Alex Jeffreys course it has been an intensive period over the last couple of months while the mentorship course has progressed. It is probably just as well that Alex Jeffreys is on holiday at the moment to allow many to consolidate as the pace has been fast and furious at times. Many of us have had to change our mindset, learn new skills and techniques and are getting into different areas of Internet Marketing.

There have been many obstacles and barriers to get through along the way and these have been different for each of us. Whether this be new skills to learn, or getting over a mental barrier to go beyond your own comfort zone. Each of these barriers holding us back will be different for each of us, but when we overcome each one we have a breakthrough that inspires and encourages us until we inevitably meet the next ‘challenge’. Only you as an individual will know if you have stretched yourself enough and had some breakthroughs because like I say these will be personal to each of us.

I thought I would share with you three of the very significant personal barriers I have broken through to make a real go at success in Internet Marketing. The first was when I read Alex Jeffreys‘ free ebook the ‘Gurus Dream’ and watched his promotional video for the Alex Jeffreys Coaching Course. I knew instantly why I had failed in all my previous attempts to succeed in Internet Marketing.

Internet Marketing Breakthrough#1 - Patience

It was ME - I was the problem, not any system I had bought and tried. In hindsight some of the things I bought would have worked but because I was impatient I moved on to the next “killer sure-win system”. I needed to stop all that, focus on my objective and realise that there was no “get-rich-quick” scheme that would deliver overnight or in a short space of time for that matter. I had to focus more on the medium to long-term.

Breakthrough#2 - No hiding behind a mask
I had to stop hiding behind a mask on the Internet. In anything I had previously tried in Internet Marketing I tried to remain anonymous, never wanting to reveal my name, for example. I think my mindset here was one of fear of ridicule and failure. However, I realised on Day One that this thinking had held me back. At an subconscious level I had not fully committed to a project nor fully believed in it and I had unconsciously already accepted the inevitable future failure. I knew I had to do something radically different when I enrolled on the Alex Jeffreys Coaching Course so for me it was using my true name and being totally myself when posting and commenting. I had to make sure my real-life personality was projected onto the Internet and hopefully that is what I have achieved. I have always been honest and open in everything I have done here helping other people. This anonymity thing was a real BIGGIE for me to get over. And I mean a biggie, but the instant I resolved that internally I knew that that was the key for me in why I had failed in IM so many times before.

Breakthrough#3 - No holding Back
The prior two breakthroughs came instantly to me in a blinding flash of clarity; Even before the course had even started proper. I just knew I had to change totally to make things work doing business on the Internet.

But this last one didn’t come until about 2 or 3 weeks ago. And you will be shocked as this one. It is connected with number #2 but goes much, much deeper psychologically. You see having your name up on the web is a big step. It certainly is for most and it most certainly was for me. But even with that you are still ‘protected’ as you are still just a ‘name’ on the web amongst many millions of others. Some of these people are thousands of miles away so you are detached and in away still able to hide behind a mask of obscurity.

The name Garry Parkes could be anyone to other people on the Internet - But not if you show yourself on a video or via a picture !! And that was the final mental barrier for me to come down. Up until me putting up that competition video I was very reluctant to ’show my face’. Really, honest to God. I know you will find that hard to believe! That is a fact. It was way, way outside my comfort zone, even though in ‘real-life’ it doesn’t bother me in the slightest getting up on stage and presenting to an audience; It doesn’t worry me at all. But when it comes to ‘exposing’ myself on the Internet is was a big deal for me. A VERY BIG DEAL.

(Two students in fact, can vouch for this internal struggle I had, as they asked via email for a picture of me for putting on their own websites and I said NO and I gave my reason why).

So getting that competition video up for me was the final barrier coming down. I am fully committed to building my presence in the world of Internet Marketing and am now able to use my entire personality to do this. I felt great after I came to the decision. You see all along I knew that it was something I had to overcome but I kept putting off doing something about it. I was scared. But now looking back I can’t see why on earth it worried me for so long as it is well and truly behind me now. So I now look to the next thing to move me outside my comfort zone and progress further as a consequence. I know for a fact it will not be a personal one but more probably a technical skill that I need to master.

So what things have you done on this course that initially were way outside your comfort zone? I’d like to know. Are you brave enough to put them up for all to see like I have as this is the surest way to demonstrate you are over them.

Or is there something you know is holding you back that you need to overcome (personal or new skills) that you would like improve on? Recognising it is one crucial step along the way to resolving it, acknowledging it to others is another step and then the final thing is putting into place an Action Plan to resolve it.

I hope you found my own personal account of the challenges I have overcome to get this far inspiring in some way. Please let me know. And if you are struggling to come up with anything you have done outside your initial comfort zone then you need to seriously ask yourself why? Are you really committed? No-one will do them for you. Just a thought to close on.