You, a Hero

At the end of the first day of our coaching program, I knew we had a future superstar in our presence. This woman, we’ll call her “K,” was smart, intelligent, and an incredibly hard and disciplined worker. She’ll go far, I thought to myself.

In fact, that night after our big group dinner with the coaching members, as my business partner Bedros Keuilian and I debriefed in his suite, I said to him, “If K was a stock, I’d invest in her company.” I knew she had a big idea within her and that, combined with her courageous life story, would allow her to reach millions of people.

But, as it turns out, had I “invested” in her stock then, I would have been an early investor, like those that invested in Amazon in 2001.

It would be years until that investment would turn a profit. In fact, for a little while, I might even have lost money.

Because, you see, like most people, K didn’t recognize the hero inside of herself. She let self-doubt derail her and lack of confidence constrain her. She felt intimidated by her peers, even though they were no better than her. Her products, her message, and her talents were equal to any of them. But she discounted her capabilities, and thus let opportunity pass her by.

Perhaps you’ve felt this way before. Perhaps you still feel this way today. Perhaps you’ve let big breaks get away from you. Well, don’t feel bad. It’s not your fault. And you can overcome the obstacles in your way. Our hero of today, K did it, and you can too.

Why did K finally become a success story? Because she never gave up. She persevered through the dips, through the darkest of days – both personally and professionally – and remained steadfast to a program of self-growth.

Fast forward four years later. She’s matured in both skills and attitude. It’s as though someone had held a “hero mirror” to her face so that she could finally see what she was capable of.

Where there were once insurmountable obstacles, there are now numerous conquests.

Each week when she sends me her progress update, she reports a new personal best.

And each victory only makes her stronger. Each action step emboldens her resolve. Like a Phoenix rising from the ashes, she is powerful and strong.

Everything has changed.

She sees the hero within.

Do you?

Do you know that there’s a hero residing inside of you? A hero that is powerful enough to change lives, to lead your field, to make your family proud, to support your loved ones for life and beyond?

Do you understand how easy it is to be a hero to people in need of help? All it takes, my friend, is action. You don’t need any superpowers, you don’t need any special degrees, and you don’t need be in government or a high-paid CEO. You just need a mission, a vision and a passion for helping others.

If you’re still unsure, let me show you an example of a simple, average man that stumbled upon a way to help thousands of people everyday.

Make no mistake about it, there’s nothing special about this man. He’s average height, average weight, average intelligence, slightly below average in appearance, and he puts his pants on two legs at a time just like everyone else. (Wait, what? That’s not how you put your pants on?).

But seriously, that average man is me, your editor at Early to Rise. It’s through this daily newsletter where I get a chance to help tens of thousands of readers everyday by bringing you the best content we can find from thought leaders like Mark Ford, Robert Ringer, Alex Green, Mary Ellen Tribby, Bedros Keuilian, Bob Burg, Isabel De Los Rios, Leo Babauta, and Jonathan Fields.

Each day that we deliver wisdom from these experts it helps you achieve your goals and get closer to your dreams. And everyday I express gratitude for having found my way here. But this article is not about me or even my client, K.

It’s about YOU.

You can be a hero. You have, as Tony Robbins has told you before, the Power Within.

So how do you get in a position to help others and be a hero to men and women that are struggling to succeed in your area of expertise?

First, it starts with your vision. You cannot create a map and action plan for your life until you know where you want to go.

I was fortunate to know early in life that I wanted to dedicate my career to helping people. At first I thought it was just in the fitness and health field, but from the first day that I read Michael Masterson’s Early to Rise in 2001 I knew that I wanted to have a business exactly like his. And by acting in congruence with my vision, I was able to achieve my exact dream.

However, it takes time. To get into this position where I am lucky to be today, I had to seek coaches and mentors, connect with the right people, grow outside of my comfort zone, share my vision and my goals with positive people, and most important, take massive action and develop my skills every single working day of my career.

I did all of this and then BOOM, one day, ten years later, I woke up an overnight success in the role of my dreams.

That is the path that you must take. You must choose to be a leader in your field, whether you are an educator, a sales person, a lawyer, a doctor, a butcher, a baker or a candlestick maker.

To be a leader, you must add extreme value to the world and help as many people as you can. You must have faith in your ability to do so. You must take massive action, and you must never give up on what is important to you.

At ETR, our goal is to deliver incredibly helpful content every morning. And when we do, we build goodwill with you, and grow our personal relationship and connection with you.

Just like K does in her fitness business. As she does this more and more and grows the belief in her ability, she creates more and more success stories amongst her readers that give her more and more positive feedback. As the relationship strengthens between her readers and their “hero,” she gains even more confidence and takes more risks to put herself outside of her comfort zone so that she can help her clients even more.

It’s a virtuous cycle.

And one that you can be involved in as well in your business or career.

But it all starts with taking action.

Will there be critics?

Of course.

But we all know, thanks to former President Roosevelt that it is not the critic that counts, instead, it is the person inside the arena taking action.

And never forget, that for every critic, there will be 99 success stories or more that consider you to be their hero.

Besides, critics are hypocrites. They only criticize in the dark anonymity of the Internet. No one will ever have the guts to confront you face-to-face. That’s why they are critics and you are the hero.

So go forth and spread your word and share goodwill. Make the world a better place. Take action and build your confidence with each step.

As tough as it might seem, you’ll still find that it’s easier to be a hero than a zero, and far more rewarding too.

Get started by creating your vision. Watch this free video as I show you how.

[Ed Note: Craig Ballantyne is the editor of Early to Rise (Join him on Facebook here) and the author of Financial Independence Monthly, a complete blueprint to helping you take control of your financial future with research of proven methods in your career, in your business and in your personal life. He has created a unique system to show gratitude and appreciation to stay on track for these goals each and every day. Click here to follow the exact 5-minute system you can use to improve your life.]