Self-doubt is a dream killer. This is food for thought – no actionable to-do list here! But hopefully it can keep you going when you experience self-doubt (we all do)

Hard work

When you feel like working on your project, leverage that energy. Can you free up your schedule to ride that wave of motivation? Can you tivo your favorite program or postpone dinner by an hour? When you get in a groove, milk it for all it’s worth!

Willpower

Unfortunately we don’t always ride a wave of effortless productivity. That’s when I stop thinking about the big picture and I focus on output. Can I get something done right now that will produce a measurable, tangible result. When I don’t feel like working, I try to get in, work just for a little bit (30 minutes or 1 hour) and get out quickly with something to show for.

Faith

In the early stages of most projects, you’re running on faith. You have no surefire way to know if what you’re doing will work. I try to acknowledge that fact and think of how I felt as I was starting a project. It usually brings back the vision, the intention, and strengthens my faith in my project.
But faith alone can’t get you far. I try to get some metrics and feedback as soon as I can. Installing Google Analytics (it’s free – http://analytics.google.com) on a website and watching the visitors numbers go up is an easy to get a measurable result early in a project. And if you set up a blog like we suggest you do, you might also get a few comments from your newfound readers.

Opportunity

Hard work, willpower, and faith in your abilities will inevitably offer great opportunities. Will you be paying attention when that opportunity comes. If you always have your head down and work, work, work, you could miss that great opportunity. So take an hour of “work” every week to go to the park or beach and look at the big picture, assess how things are going, refocus, and rededicate yourself to the project.
I hope this email helps you get through the grind. Keep up the great work!