FBC – 199 – If You think you don’t have what it takes, then listen to this …

If You think you don't have what it takes, then listen to this ..

Today, we are going to debunk a myth and get you back on track. There are a lot of limiting beliefs that stop you dead in your tracks… One of them is the belief that you are starting from scratch and hence don't have what it takes.
This couldn't be more wrong and here's why…

Sounds interesting? Then listen to today's episode.

So anyway, today I wanted to tell you about something that I hear a lot when I talk to people and I want to debunk this myth.

This is one of the limiting beliefs that people have. And it's stopping them from doing stuff. Right. So here's the thing. When I talk to people, they're telling me like, oh, man, dude, you know what? I'm starting from scratch. You are at this level. Me, I'm nowhere. I don't have anything. This is what I want to talk to you about, because you're wrong. You are absolutely wrong.

So if you were born yesterday, then, yes, you're starting from scratch. You haven't achieved anything in your life. You haven't studied anything in your life. You haven't done anything yet. But it's not the case. Man, you weren't born yesterday.

I was recently asked by Claire, actually, she asked me how I ended up here, was it like feel like some sort of like accident or something like that? And I realized something. I realized that my journey to get to where I am today didn't start five years ago, for example, when I decided to travel and stuff. It started way before.

So if I look at it, 10 years ago when I had absolutely no idea that I was going to do this one day, my journey had already started. In my first real job, my first real experience that I consider, I had a lot of time on my hands. And my journey started there my job was to take calls, you know, write down what the customer wanted. And then afterwards send it to engineers.

But we didn't have that many calls. It was a start so we didn't have too many clients calling. So between the calls, I just took the manual of our system. So it was an e-mail spam filtering system. Highly complicated, man. I mean, you read this stuff. It's like ancient Greek. It didn't make any sense to me. But I had some time and I took the manual and I tried to figure out what the tool was doing.

Remember when I told you that a good skill is to know who to ask? Well, that’s what I did. When I didn't have any calls I went and sat down with an engineer, and said, dude, what are you doing? So he was showing me. OK. So this is how you fix it. I would say, OK, I want to know the major and the most common issues. How do they fix it? I will shadow you and you tell me what you're doing.

So that at that point, I wasn't an entrepreneur. And you know what? I never imagined that I would start my own company or something. I was just working there. But then I saw a position in the company that I wanted to get to. An armed with my new knowledge and experience, I went for it and I got it. And I kept learning new stuff and kept improving my skills, and it all went from there.

If You think you don't have what it takes, then listen to this ..

Taking this approach there is what helped me to get where I am today. But a lot of people focus on the technical skills. The skills don't matter. What matter is the attributes. So the attributes is your attitude and your mind-set. The skills, you can acquire them. You've read a book. You have the skills. Right. It's not complicated. What you need is the attitude and the mind-set.

So now think about it in your life, you weren't born to yesterday. You've done stuff in your life to acquire the dedication and the patience and the resilience. You learned some stuff on your own time. And I don't know, like sacrificed a little bit of time to get a promotion, to get this to get that right.

You had to do that stuff. There are a lot of things that you've done and that you're completely disregarding because the only thing you're looking at is the skills. You've been working all your life to build them and build your character. So you are not starting from scratch. All right.

What did life teach me? Life taught me that, you know, these jobs that I that I've done, it prepared me for what I'm doing today. Maybe this has been blocking you for the longest time, thinking that people are miles away from me. No, dude, you have your whole life until your last breath. You can do it. You know what I mean? So go for it. Stop thinking that you don't have what it takes. Because you do man!

Frequently Asked Questions

What does not having what it takes really mean and is it ever true?

Not having what it takes almost always means I cannot see the version of me that has it yet. It is rarely a true ceiling. Capability is built by repetition, mentorship, and time, none of which require you to start with talent. The phrase is usually fear in disguise.

Why is starting from scratch one of the most common limiting beliefs?

Starting from scratch sounds humble but acts as a license to delay. Most people who say it actually have years of relevant skill, partial assets, and access to free information that founders 20 years ago would have paid for. The belief is comfortable. The reality is that you are already underway.

How do you reset your self image when you feel underqualified?

List, on paper, every project you have completed, every skill someone paid you for, and every problem you solved for free. The list is always longer than the feeling. Self image lags behind evidence. Forcing the evidence on paper is the fastest way to close that gap.

What is the first practical step when you doubt your own ability?

The first practical step is to ship a small public version of what you doubt yourself on. A post, a free guide, a service offer to one person. Public feedback dissolves abstract self doubt in a way that no amount of internal reflection ever will. Move from drafts to publish.

About the Author

Martin Ebongue is the founder of martinebongue.com, an online business and lifestyle design blog focused on helping aspiring entrepreneurs build location-independent businesses. Since 2014, he has been creating and scaling online ventures across multiple niches, from digital products and affiliate marketing to SaaS and content platforms, while traveling the world. He shares the real-world strategies, tools, and systems that work, with a particular focus on AI-powered automation for solopreneurs. Follow him on YouTube, X (Twitter), and Instagram.

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