"The worst part of success is trying to find someone who is happy for you" – Bette Midler

Nevertheless, I am sure this is a story you can relate to.

I have been in the content creation business for about 18 years now. I get disappointed even now when I see success stories.

I feel a sense of failure because I haven’t been able to achieve what the hero in the success story has achieved.

This is a problem that every one of us who are a little ambitious face.

We tend to raise the bar not based on what we have achieved. But we base it on the stories we see and read.

Or, even on the stories we see.

We nit-pick pieces of these stories and compare it with ourself and then keep raising the bar.

About 15 years back there was this guy who was working with me in the same company that I worked with.

I was pretty ambitious then as I am now. I had goals that I wanted to achieve – name, fame and money.

And my struggle to achieve that, began 18 years back.

So this guy was a happy-go-lucky guy. He would come to office, work for 9 hours straight, go home and enjoy the rest of the day.

He would spend his weekends enjoying out with his family.

And for me..

I would be slogging it out.

I would spend my after-office hours working on my side-hustle. My weekends were no different.

Years went by.

I achieved some of my goals but some I couldn’t.

14 years after, I still see the same guy.

The same happy-go-lucky guy.

He is married with 2 kids. After office hours are the same for him. He would spend the evening enjoying his dinner, playing with his kids, binge watching his favorite series on Netflix and a peaceful night’s sleep.

Weekends were no different. He was always out on weekends with his family and he would post these pictures on Facebook that I would invariably come across accidentally (maybe not so accidentally).

In fact, twice a year he would go on vacation on a foreign tour and post pictures about that too.

And I am left asking myself, “how on earth does he manage to go on foreign trips twice a year?”

I am sure you too would have come across a similar situation.

But do you know where the problem is?

The problem is in incorrect comparisons.

You cannot compare apples to oranges!

Ambition has a cost. There are sacrifices involved.

Which you and me realize.

But we still tend to compare our achievements on that very “THING” we sacrificed, to others who decided to sacrifice ambitions for that thing.

And then we feel disappointed.

Bear in mind, that it is a choice we made.

I too could have been going on foriegn vacations, spending my weekends out and enjoying the after-office hours.

But I chose to build a business from scratch, with nothing in hand – no capital to invest, no business experience and no knowledge.

And I chose this so that not just my future could be secure but my child too has a foundation to stand on.

You too are doing the same.

You have a larger purpose that you are trying to achieve.

Let go of disappointments!

Be happy at what you have achieved and for what you are aiming to achieve!

On Twitter:

If you have been struggling with maintaining momentum to follow through on your goals, then this thread is something you will be interested in.

I call it the catalyst to success!

You can follow me on Twitter for more such threads.

News that will interest You

• Youtube has started to roll out a podcast page. It is currently available in the US and I had to use a VPN to access this page. The page looks very similar to the explore page and lists podcasts by popular episodes, popular podcast playlists etc.

• Twitter too seems to be getting interested in podcasts. Twitter has started off as Odeo, a podcasting platform and so it interesting to see how it took a 360 to come back to where it all started. You will be able to find Podcasts in the spaces tab.

From The Podcasting University Podcast:

I released a couple of episodes in the last 2 weeks both of which got amazing mileage. The listenership was unexpected, which makes me believe that these topics are something that a lot of podcasters are interested in.

1. Episode – 69 : If you would like to learn more about podcast ads pricing, this episode covers it in detail.

2. Episode – 70 : I had received a lot of questions on how podcast promo ads work and if there were alternatives to it. This episode was all about promoting your podcast on other podcasts.

3. Episode – 71 : Another interesting question that you hear a lot is – Which is better – Podcasting or, YouTube? If you would like an answer, then this episode is for you.

Articles of Interest:

1. This article on podcast collaboration has some very good tips on how you could use podcast collaboration to build your podcast audience.

2. I have rarely come across somebody who says that they don’t want to make money with their podcast or, blog or, videos. This article covers some very interesting aspects of starting a podcast to make money.

Questions from the readers:

This is a question I received on one of my discovery calls with a podcast aspirant, Shekhar –

Can I sell my podcast, once I have built it?

I have never been asked such a question and have in fact, never even thought about it until now.

But then here is my 2 cents.

I have been a website flipper for quite some time. What I would do is build websites, generate traffic to these sites, generate some income using Google Adsense and affiliate links and then sell the website off.

There was this website clickednow.com, which I had modeled off Buzzfeed which I sold after building it for about 8 months for an amount of $2900.

So if websites can be built and then sold, why can’t podcasts?

Content marketing is really like a first date. If all you do is talk about yourself, there won’t be a second date.” ~ David Beebe, former head of content, Marriott

Recommended Reading

1. Attitude is everything: This book by Jeff Keller, motivational coach and speaker is one of the few books (that I have read) that has actionable steps. A very simple book with a 3 step process, this book can be a guide to doing well on all fronts – work and personal life.

2. Hyperfocus – This book by Chris Bailey is one of my all time favorites. He talks about the two mental modes – hyperfocus and scatterfocus and how combining the two can give you the best results.

Note – Some of these are affiliate links and I might earn a commission if you choose to purchase using these links, but that would be at no extra cost to you.

That’s it for this week,

See ya again in the next edition,

Dilip K

P.S. If you would like to connect with me or, read more of my writings in the form of blog posts, then you can visit my blog about Podcasting Tips.

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