With the invention of the Internet, it’s become easy to promote oneself as a thought leader, inventor, coach, expert or entrepreneur. This also means that it has become increasingly hard to decipher a true master from a charlatan. The virtual world is a paradise for those who can communicate value to the public but it also provides a safe haven from delivering true value.
The Internet is filled with information. On an average day, there are:
- 500 million tweets posted
- 2.5 million blogs published
- 400,000 hours of videos uploaded to YouTube
- 140,000 websites launched
- 4 petabytes of data created on Facebook
How much of this information can we possibly internalize? Very little.
With all this information, we rely on search engines and websites to curate the content we consume. What we end up seeing is the best of the best or the worst of the worst. Deep down inside, many of us want to be famous, but we realize that to be famous we must get noticed. The only way to get noticed on the Internet is to be the “best” or the “worst.” In other words, the Internet world only recognizes the extraordinary while everything else is lost in a sea of information.
Before we can be recognized for our talents, we must find a way to break through the noise of the so-called experts. How do we get around this? We take shortcuts to fame. We self-market, we brand, we do things we will regret in the future just to get an extra LIKE.
Because we are trapped in a world where anyone can have their 15 minutes of fame, we forget that the great don’t become great by spending their time trying to become famous. They become great by spending their time working on the things that make them great. It’s a constant obsession with the need to improve the skill that they are working on.
It’s a fundamental decision we must make to dedicate our whole being to the thing that we are most fascinated with. We must forget about finding shortcuts, quick tips or hacks. To master a skill that we desire, we must dive deep under the superficial layer and allow it to marinate in our most subconscious thoughts. If we don’t do this, we will never reach our full potential or worse, we ourselves become the charlatan.
Some people may ask, “What is this skill we desire?“
Stop looking for it and start listening for it. Listen to your heart pound with excitement the moment you use your talent. Feel your skin tingle with anticipation. Taste the air as you breathe shallowly with excitement.
Here’s the point, no one can ever tell us what we desire the most, other than ourselves.