A Rough Beginning
And how they changed me
In 2021, while everyone was locked inside because of Covid, I had this brilliant idea of creating a newsletter. I opened my laptop and wrote on Google, “How to create a newsletter in 2021?”.
That was the first time I heard about Substack. I rushed to create an account and did some research on how to get started.
At the time, I wasn’t sure what I was signing up for, but I knew I had way too many thoughts I wanted to share with the world.
You see, I am naturally an overthinker, which means my mind is constantly questioning things. My hope was that writing online would help me with that.
After some time, I had figured out how to publish the newsletter, so I quickly wrote my first post. What happened next will probably shock you (or not). I never got to post it.
Who am I
I am João, a 26 year young guy from Portugal. I work as a security engineer by day and turned into a writer/content creator on my spare time. I have a passion for personal development and love to explore how our brain works.
I have mentored multiple people struggling with self-doubt, procrastination, lack of focus, etc, helping them build better habits and routines. My current goal is to become a professional coach.
The Problem
Writing for myself was never the problem. The hard part was sharing my thoughts publicly, being seen, judged, and vulnerable.
For years, I had this vision of building a community of hustlers and like-minded people. I imagined a space where we could share ideas, challenges, and success stories.
But every time I thought about starting, my mind went in the opposite direction:
What if I don’t write well enough?
What if my stories aren’t interesting?
What if no one cares?
Those thoughts were enough to stop me. I kept telling myself I would start tomorrow, but tomorrow never came. One day turned into a week, a week into a month, and eventually into 4 whole years.
The Breakthrough
On the 19th of April, I made my first post online. It wasn’t on Substack, but on LinkedIn. After 4 years, I finally gathered enough courage to share my writing publicly.
The post was a short article with 5 lessons I learned during my 3 years working in technical support roles. If you want to check it out, you can find it here.
Looking back now, that post is not that special, but at the time, it meant the world to me. For the first time, I was facing my fear and not letting it control me.
I literally felt unstoppable, almost as if I had broken free from a curse that kept me imprisoned in my own mind.
That first post triggered something in me. One post turned into another, then another. I haven’t stopped since. That single action on the 19th of April started a cycle I didn’t want to break.
I won’t pretend that my fears and doubts completely disappeared. The truth is, they are still inside me, and I feel them from time to time.
What changed is the way I deal with them. I learned to analyze those emotions without giving them full control. I refuse to imprison myself again, so I sit with the emotions, then take action and break the cycle.
My Takeaways
Fears and insecurities will always live among us. If you think professional athletes or extremely successful people don’t have them, I challenge you to do some quick research, and I’m sure you’ll change your mind very fast.
The important part is learning how to live with them, because whether we like it or not, these doubts are part of us.
Confidence is not something that we get born with, so sitting and waiting to feel ready is pointless. One day I heard this quote from Alex Hormozi and it completely shifted my mindset:
You don’t become confident by shouting affirmations in the mirror, but by having a stack of undeniable proof that you are who you say you are. Outwork your self doubt.
If proof is what helps us overcome self-doubt, then the only way to build it is through action. Evidence is gathered through constant and deliberate action.
So if you have been sitting on a business or project idea but aren’t sure whether you should start, the right time is now. Procrastination, perfectionism, and fear often hide behind words like “research”, “preparation”, and “planning”.
Start now, start messy, and confidence will catch up over time.
As always, I am cheering for you from afar.
- João M.
If you enjoy my writing, I also post daily on LinkedIn. I write about my personal development journey and how I use science-based methods to improve my focus and productivity.
Social Preview picture credit: Eastman Childs