Originally Published March 12th, 2019

Hey Gang,

Imagine seeing someone that you went to school with walking around town with a camera pointed at themselves talking about their new vegan fitness app.

Your first thought would probably be something like,

“What A Doofus!”

Now imagine you’re watching the news, a TV show, or reading a magazine when you see the same person promoting their new product and talking about how much money they’ve made.

Your reaction would probably be something like,

“Hey I know that person! We went to school together! I sat next to them in health class! They’re really cool!”

We immediately try to associate ourselves with & praise those who have made huge accomplishments. But when they’re hustling towards that goal—meh.

Everyone Is An Idiot Until They’ve Made It

Everyone is a doofus until they’re a pioneer. 

This is one of the thoughts I’ve been having lately as I struggle to become comfortable in front of the camera. I spend all day at work thinking about what I’m going to say and rehearsing my thoughts until I have everything memorized. Then I turn on the camera and everything goes blank.

***Growing pains.

I’m working muscles that I’ve never worked. It’s not natural for me to speak to a camera & try to convey a message. For me, it’s much easier to write a 35 page research paper.

But it’s not just the mechanics of speaking & performing—it’s thinking about what other people are going to think. 

This is something that stops so many people (including myself) from doing the things that we want to do most in life.

Being afraid of what others will think.

Being afraid of looking like a idiot.

“Vulnerability is the birthplace of innovation, creativity and change.”
―Brene Brown

It takes courage to be vulnerable.

It takes courage to admit that we are weak, that we are new, that we don’t know something.

Today while having a slight mental breakdown and contemplating “Just Giving Up“, Ashley stopped me immediately and said, “DO 100 VIDEOS! THEN DECIDE THAT YOU’RE NOT GOOD.”

I’m lucky to have her.

I’m not talented at speaking. I’m not talented at speaking in front of an audience. I’m not talented at speaking to a camera.

But Darn It Charlihicks—I’m going to keep trying.

So if you’re reading this and you’re trying something new—just know that everyone had a beginning. At some point, Einstein had to learn basic math. Steve Wozniak was just a nerd in his friend’s garage.

This is a fun game—you should try it. Here’s the formula:

 “At some point {Insert Hero, Artist, Pioneer} was just a {Insert Corresponding Humble Beginning}.”

If you want to achieve your ambitions, don’t be afraid of looking like a doofus. Be afraid of the regret you will have from not trying. To me, that’s more scary than looking like an idiot.

I’ll look like an idiot all day.

Everyone is an idiot, until they’ve made it.